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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Technical  Notes  /  Notes  techniques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Physical 
features  of  this  copy  which  may  alter  any  of  the 
images  in  the  reproduction  are  checked  below. 


D 
D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couvertures  de  couleur 


Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g^ographiques  en  couleur 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Certains 
ddfauts  susceptibles  de  nuire  d  la  quality  de  la 
reproduction  sont  notds  ci-dessous. 


n 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 


Coloured  plates/ 
Planches  en  couleur 


Th 
po 
of 
fill 


Th 

CO 

or 
ap 

Th 
filr 
ins 


D 
B] 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  ddcolordes,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 


Tight  binding  (may  cause  shadows  or 
distortion  along  interior  margin)/ 
Reliure  serrd  (peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou 
de  la  distortion  le  long  de  la  marge 
intdrieure) 


m 


D 


Show  through/ 
Transparence 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 


Mi 

in 

up 

bo 

fol 


□ 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires 


Bibliographic  Notes  /  Nctes  bibliograpKiques 


D 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 


D 
D 


Pagination  incorrect/ 
Erreurs  de  pagination 


Pages  missing/ 
Des  pages  manquent 


D 


Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


D 


Maps  missing/ 

Des  cartes  gdographiques  manquent 


D 
D 


Plates  missing/ 

Des  planches  manquent 


Additional  comments/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche  shall 
contain  the  symbol  -^(meaning  CONTINUED"), 
or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"),  whichever 
applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  I'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaTtra  sur  la  der- 
nidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le  cas: 
le  symbole  — »►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le  symbole 
V  signifie  "FIN". 


The  original  copy  was  borrowed  from,  and 
filmed  with,  the  kind  consent  of  the  following 
institution: 

National  Library  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  filmd  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6rositd  de  I'dtablissement  prdteur 
suivant  : 

Bibliothdque  nationale  du  Canada 


Maps  or  plates  too  large  to  be  entirely  included 
in  one  exposure  are  filmed  beginning  in  the 
upper  Inft  hand  corner,  left  to  right  and  top  to 
bottom,  as  many  frames  as  required.  The 
following  diagrams  illustrate  the  method: 


Les  cartes  ou  les  planches  trop  grandes  pour  dtre 
reproduites  en  un  seul  clichd  sont  filmdes  d 
partir  de  Tangle  supdrieure  gauche,  de  gauche  A 
droite  et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Le  diagramme  suivant 
illustre  la  mdthode  : 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

8 

6 

'.\ 


By  the  Same  Author. 


THE   MAKING  OF   NEW   ENGLAND. 

1580— 1643. 

Fully  illustrated,  with  many  cuts  and  maps. 
One  volume,  i2mo,  ^1.50. 


w 


\ 


CARTIER  TAKING  POSSESSION  TOB  FBANCB. 


PF^^^^-— '     '       vi-i,dr.,y| 


THE 


MAKLNG  OF  THE  GREAT  WEST 


1512-1883 


BY 


SAMUEL    ADAMS    DRAKE 


WITH  MANY  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES    SGRIBNER'S    SONS 

1887 


Copyright,  1887,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


BAND   AVERY  COMPANY, 

BLECTBOTYPEB8  AND  PRINTERS, 

BOSTON. 


T 


MIS 

want 


I  ginnings 

Althou 

I  has  not  1 

adult  rea 

|in  a  little 

For  the 

nth  clea 

hesitated 

(land  it,  ( 

As  in  t 

to  occupy 

10  so  cond 

ptality,  o: 

Mstoiy  of 

phiis,  wh( 

'  is  intenc 

|11  out  the 

"To  th 

|nit,  to  be 


PREFACE. 


"Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

rpiTIS  history  is  intended  to  meet,  so  far  as  it  may,  the 
-*-  want  for  brief,  compact,  and  handy  manuals  of  the  be- 
ginnings of  our  country. 

Although  primarily  designed  for  young  people,  the  fact 
[has  not  been  overlooked  that  the  same  want  exists  among 
adult  readers,  to  whom  an  intelligent  view  of  the  subject, 
[ill  a  little  space,  is  nowhere  accessible. 

For  the  purpose  in  hand,  the  simplest  language  consistent 
|witli  clearness  has  l^een  made  use  of,  though  I  have  never 
lesitated  to  employ  the  right  word,  whenever  I  could  corn- 
land  it,  even  if  it  were  of  more  than  three  syllables. 
As  in  the  "  Making  of  New  England,"  "  this  book  aims 
[o  occupy  a  place  between  the  larger  and  lesser  histories,  — 
so  condense  the  exhaustive  narrative  as  to  give  it  greater 
fitality,  or  so  extend  what  the  narrow  limits  of  the  school- 
fistoiy  often   leave   obscure   as   to   supply   the   deficiency. 
'hiis,  when  teachers  have  a  particular  topic  before  them, 
is  intended  that  a  chapter  on  the  same  subject  be  read  to 
[11  out  the  bare  outlines  of  the  common-school  text-book. 

"  To  this  end  the  plan  has  been  to  treat  each  topic  as  a 
|nit,  to  be  worked  out  to  a  clear  understanding  of  its  objects 

vii 


VIU 


PREFACE. 


and  results  before  passing  to  another  topic.  And  in  further- 
ance of  this  metliod,  each  subject  has  its  own  descriptive 
notes,  maps,  plans  and  pictorial  illustration,  so  that  all  may 
contribute  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  matter  in  hantl. 
The  several  topics  readily  fall  into  groups  that  have  an 
apparent  or  underlying  connection,  which  is  clearly  brought 
out." 

In  this  volume,  I  have  followed  up  to  its  legitimate  end- 
ing the  work  done  by  the  three  great  rival  powers  of  modern 
times  in  civilizing  our  continent.  I  have  tried  to  make  it 
the  worthy,  if  modest,  exponent  of  a  great  theme.  The  story 
grows  to  absorbing  interest,  as  the  great  achievement  of  tlie 
age,  —  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  overcoming  the  Latin  race,  as 
one  great  wave  overwhelms  another  with  resistless  force. 

Under  the  title  of  "  The  Great  West,"  the  present  volume 
deals  mostly  with  the  section  lying  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
Another  is  proposed,  in  which  the  central  portion  of  the 
Union  will  be  treated.  The  completed  series,  it  is  hoped, 
will  present  something  like  a  national  portrait  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 


A\   IIlSTC 

I>K  Soto' 
Mississi 

I>EATH   AN 

The  Indi; 
How    Xea\ 

'•  The  Mai 

Folk  Loni 

Last  Dat! 

I'HILIP  I 

'  'SWOBD  AXI 

II 

[I'nELUDE     . 

i  Wkstward 

LAND    Wa 

The  SiTUAi 
|<'"rxT  Fro 

|.''»I.IET  AND 

I'lHE  Man  r, 

■A  ."JALLE,  1' 


COll^TET^TS. 


GROUP  I— THREE  RIVAL   CIVILIZATIONS. 


I.    The  Spaniards. 

An  Historic  Era 

I)K   Soto's    Discoveuv    of    thk 

Mississippi 

Death  and  Bl'uial  of  1)e  Soto 
The  Indians  of  Florida    .    . 
How   New  Mexico  came   to  be 

Explored  

"  Ttie  Marvellois  Country" 
Folk  Lore  of  the  Pleblos  . 
Last  Days  of  Charles  V.  and 

Philip  II 

^^woRD  AND  Gown  in  California, 

II.    The  French. 

I  Prelude 

[westward    ry   the    Great    In 

land  Waterways     .    .    . 
iTiiE  Situation  in  A.I).  1072 

ICoUNT  FRONTENAC     .... 

IJiiMET  AND  Marquette  .    . 
|The  Man  La  Salle  .... 
.A  Salle,  Prince  of  Explorers, 


PAUK 

1 

10 

18 
•20 

28 
39 
43 


53 
55 


71 
SO 
84 
85 
93 
99 


Discovery  of  tub  Upper  Missis- 
sippi   

The  Lost  Colony:  St.  Louis  of 
Texas     

Iberville  founds  Louisiana.    . 

France  wins  the  Prize  .... 

Louis  XIV 


pagf. 

105 

109 
lis 
123 
130 


III.    The  English. 

The  Bleak  Nortu-west  Coast  .  132 

Hudson's  Bay  to  the  South  Sea,  136 

The  Russians  in  Alaska    .    .    .  140 

England  on  the  Pacific     .    .    .  143 

Queen  Elizabeth 147 

Inter  hale. 
What  Jonathan  Carver  aimed 

TO  DO  IN  1766 149 

John  Ledyaud's  Idea 153 

A  Yankee  Ship  discovers   the 

Columbia  IIiver 156 

The  West  at  the  Opening   of 

THE  Century 162 


GROUP   II.  — BIRTH   OP  THE  AMERICAN  IDEA. 


I.    America  for  Americans. 

PAGE 

cQuisiTioN  OF  Louisiana  ...    171 
Glance  at  our  Purchase  .    .    175 

II.    The  Pathfinders. 

I-EWI9  AND  Clarke  ascend  the 
Missouri 184 


PAGF. 

They  cross  the  Continent   .    .  191 
Pike   explores    the   Arkansas 

Valley 198 

New  Mexico  in  1807 205 

Gold    in   Colorado.  —  A   Trap- 
per's Story 208 

The  Flag  in  Oregon 211 

Louisiana  admitted  1812    .    .    .  214 
ix 


CONTENTS. 


III.    The  Oregon  Trail. 

I'AOE 

Tub    Trappeb,    Backwoodsman, 
AND  Emiokant 315 

LONO       EXfLOKES        THE        I'LATTB 

Valley 219 

Missouri  and  the  Compromise 

OK  1821 223 

Arkansas  admitted  1836     .    .    .  227 

Thomas  H.  Benton's  Idea  .    .    .  227 


PAOl 

With  the  Vanocart)  to  Oregon,  231 

Texas  admitted 241 

Interlude. 

New  Political  Ideas 240 

Iowa  admitted 24S 

TuE  War  witu  Mexico  ....  248 

Conquest  of  Xew  Mexico.    .    .  251 

Takino  of  California    ....  2i'i8 

TuE  Mormons  in  Utau  ....  264 


GROUP  III.  — GOLD  IN  CALIPORNI 

IT   LED    TO. 


AND  WHAT 


I.    The  Great  Emigration. 

I'AOE 

El  Dorado  found  at  last.    .    .  271 
Swarmino  tiirougu  the  Golden 

Gate 276 

TuE  California  Pioneers  .    .    .  279 

California  a  Free  State  .    .    .  285 

Arizona 288 

II.    The  Contest  for  Free  Soil. 

The    Kansas-Nebraska    Strug- 


gle 


Kansas  the  Battle-ground 


290 
295 


The  Battle  fought  and  won 
Two  Free  States  admitted  . 


rAOK 

.     301 


III.    The  Crown  of  the 
Continent. 

Gold    in    Colorado,    and    the 

Rush  there 3(W 

The  Pacific  Railroads  ....  315 
Kansas,  Nevada,  Nebraska,  and 

Colorado  ADMITTED 320 

The  Coming  States :!2: 

The  Work  of  Eighty  Years     .  3:'i 


Taking  P, 

i^i'A.NrsH  A 
'Ship  op  th 
Isabella  c 
I  Mkiml  op 
I  Po.vce  de  J 
I  Balboa  disi 
[Fkench    M 

•JOMARD   . 

IDe  Soto    . 

|SoLDIER  OF 

Cuban  Bloo 

pJKPARTURE 

phiiial  op  i 

[•'lorida  Wa 

Palisaded  1 

Florida  I 

Making  a  Cj 

Chieftain 

rnocEssioNAi 

^ocK  Inscrip 

pr>.  New  b 

Spanish  In 

action  of 

J  ORADO       . 

I'tiiA.v  Mount 
1'a.so  del 

''I'EBLO  Re! 
|'|>MA    .      . 

^SA  Grande, 

f'lNS  OF  Pec( 
J«Kt'S   GiGAN 

l^iiLo  Idols 

fKliOULYPHICS 
!"'>  (-ALIPORN 

i'  J'rancis  D 

y^^K  SAILS  A' 

r^  ^fAp  sHowi 
FMEL  Missio: 


PAOI 

S,    233 
.    241 


.  24ft 
.  248 
.  248 
.  2.M 
,  .  256 
.    .    264 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


HAT 

pAor. 
3N  .  301 
)   .     .30' 

i  the 

THE 

.     .     30S 

•  ''i: 

i,  AND 

...    32 

•  •'- 


PAOE 

Taking  Possession  for  Prance. 

Frontispiece 

Hpanish  Arms 1 

Hiiip  OP  THE  Sixteenth  Century,  2 

IsABKu-A  OP  Spain 3 

Mkoal  or  Charles  V 5 

ll'oNcE  DE  Leon 6 

Balboa  discovering  the  Pacific,  8 

Ifhench    Map    of     1542.       From 

•JOMARD 10 

VDi:  yoTo 11 

IBOLDIER  OF  1585 12 

JuBAN  Bloodhound 14 

)kpakture  op  the  Spaniards    .  16 

JUitiAL  OP  De  Soto 19 

^'lorida  Warrior 21 

?ali8Aded  Town 22 

Florida  Indian's  Cabin      .    .  24 

Iakinu  a  Canoe 25 

Chieftain's  Grave      ....  26 

Processional  Fans 27 

jlocK  Inscriptions,  New  Mexico,  29 
Iap,  New  Mexico.     Route  of 

Spanish  Invaders 31 

JNCTioN  of  the  Gila  and  Col- 

lOHADO 34 

(u(iAN  Mountains 36 

Paso  del  Norte 38 

I'uEBLo  Restored 41 

l<()MA 43 

ISA  Grande,  Gila  Valley  .    .  44 

:iN8  OP  Pecos 47 

tREUS   GiGANTEA 49 

pEBLO  Idols 50 

fEuooLYPHics,  Gila  Valley     .  61 

U",  California  Coast  ....  65 

^i  Francis  Drake 67 

ixKY.  sails  away 58 

[n  Map  showing  Drake's  Port,  60 

JJMEL  Mission  Church     ...  61 


PAGE 

Spanish  Map  of  1787,  showing 
Missions,     Presidios,     and 

Routes 63 

Map   from   Arcano   del   Mare, 

1647 64 

Ships   op  the  Sixteenth   Cen- 
tury    68 

A  Wood  Ranger 70 

Cha.mplain 72 

A  Portage 73 

Totem  of  the  Foxes 76 

French  Costumes 77 

Fox  River 78 

Louis  XIV 82 

Marquette's  Map 86 

Wild  Rice 87 

Totem  of  the  Illinois   ....  89 

War  Canoe,  from  Lahontan      .  90 

The  Calumet 91 

La  Salle 94 

Map  showing  La  Salle's  Explo- 
rations    95 

Wampum  Belt 102 

Sioux  Chief 107 

Sioux  Totem 108 

Sugar  Plant 120 

Map  showing  Delta  of  the  Mis- 

sissippi  AND  Adjacent  Coast.  122 

Bienville 124 

French  Soldiers 126 

New  Orleans,  1719 129 

Abandoned    Hut,     North-west 

Coast 133 

Hudson's  Bay  Company's  House, 

London 135 

Hudson's  Bay  Sled,  loaded  .    .  136 

Indian  Mask,  West  Coast      .    .  139 

Seals,  St.  Paul's  Island    ...  140 

Russian  Church,  Alaska  ...  141 

Snow  Spectacles,  Alaska  ...  144 
zi 


I 


xu 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTKATIONS. 


7AOE 

Indian  Carving 144 

Indian   Grave,   North-west 

Coast 155 

Queen  Elizabeth 148 

Falls  op  St.  Anthony    ....  151 

Indian  Burial  Scaffold     .    .    .  152 

Map,  Mouth  of  Columbia  River,  157 
Medal,    Ships     Columbia    and 

Washington 159 

An  Oregon  Belle 161 

A  Flat-Boat 164 

On  the  Lower  Mississippi    .    .  167 

A  Louisiana  Sugar-Plantation,  176 
French  Settlements:  Germ  op 

St.  Louis 177 

Old  Convent,  New  Orleans  .    .  179 

Map,  St.  Louis  and  Vicinity     .  180 

Chouteau's  Pond,  St.  Louis  .    .  181 

Rock  Towers  near  Dubuque     .  182 

Mountain  Goat,  or  Bio-horn     .  185 

Indians  moving  Camp 186 

A  Mandan 188 

Mandan  Skin  Boats 195 

Gate  op  The  Rocky  Mountains,  193 
Catching     Salmon,      Columbia 

River 196 

Map  illustrating  Lieut.  Pike's 

Explorations 199 

Indian  Burial-place 200 

Pike's  Peak 202 

The  Yucca-tree;  Spanish  Bay- 
onet     205 

Church,  Santa  F&,  with  Fort 

Marcy 207 

An  Emigrant's  Camp 217 

Map    illustrating    Long's  Ex- 
plorations      220 

Prairie-dog  Village 221 

Digging     in     the     River    for 

"Water 222 

Statue  of  Benton 229 

Fort  Laramie 235 

Amole,  or  Soap-plant     .    .    .    .  237 

San  Antonio 242 

The  Alamo 244 

Samuel  Houston 245 

Mexican  Cart 249 

Mexican    Arastra,   for   grind- 
ing Ores 250 


PAGE 

Pueblo  Woman  grinding  Corn  .  253 

Boy  and  Donkeys 254 

Pueblo  of  Taos 255 

Bio  Tree 257 

Map  showing  States  \nd  Ter- 
ritories acquired  from  Mex- 
ico   259 

California   Indians   and  Tule 

Hut 260 

El  Capitan,  Tosemite     ....  262 

Salt-Lake  City  and  Tabernacle,  265 

Sutter's  Mill 272 

Two  Miners 274 

The  Golden  Gate 276 

Chinese  Laundrysian     ....  277 

A  Fafiier 280 

Mount  Shasta 281 

On  the  Oregon  Trail     ....  282 

San  Francisco  in  1849     ....  283 

Early  Coin 284 

Hydraulic  Mining 286 

Chicken-Vender 287 

Mission    San    Xavieu   del  Bac, 

near  Tucson 289 

Stephen  A.  Douglas 291 

A  Squatter's  Improvements  .    .  296 

Street,  Kansas  City,  1857  ...  297 

Lawrence,  Kansas 298 

The  Ferry,  Lawrence,  Kansas,  300 

A  Squatter  siovinq  his  Claim  .  301 

Mud  Fort,  Lawrence 303 

John  Brown 304 

John  Brown's  Cabin 305 

Gate,  Garden  of  the  Gods  .    .  309 

Humors  of  the  Road i;iO 

Denver  in  1859 311 

Overland  Stage  — in  Camp    .    .  311 

Going  in 312 

Coming  Out 312 

Office     of     "  Rocky-Mountain 

News,"  Denver 312 

Colorado  City,  1859 313 

Quartz  Stamping-Mill   ....  314 

Quaker  Gun  at  Stage  Station  .  315 
Pony   Express    and    Overland 

(Stage 317 1 

Track-laying,  Pacific  Rail- 
road     3191 

Reapinu-Macuine ^-n 


of  the 


Group  I. 


THREE  RIVAL  CIVILIZATIONS. 


"  True  History,  henceforth  charged  -with  the  education 
of  the  People,  will  study  the  successive  movements  of 
humanity."  —  Victor  Hugo. 


rniiE  SI 

the  iiiijct 

possible  f 

i'l  every 

"How  is 

g"<'iiig  to  [\ 

To  jiiak 

'j<'g'iiiiiii)g 

I  lii'st  2)ut  0 

leinote  tii: 

k'«ts,  its  ail 

hiy  to  do 

|i'jom  our  i 

t^-ss  we  ma 

^'<'J'l  unci  ij 

piive  led  uf 

Jii  the  ve 

^Ve  see  diff 

■ft'orts  to  o 


I. 

THE    SPANIARDS. 


AN  HISTORIC  ERA. 

"And  from  America  the  golden  fleece 
That  yearly  stuffs  old  Philip's  treasury." 

Marlowe'' >i  FauMus. 

rpiIE  story  we  have  to  tell  was  the  problem  of  the 

-^   sixteenth   century,  and   is   no   less  the  marvel  of 

tlie  nineteenth.     Put  in  the  simplest 

])()ssihle  form,  the  riddle  to  be  solved         '       O 

ill  every  palace  of  Christendom  was,    ^-^^^^..3       •  % 

'-'•  Uow  is  the  discovery  of  a  new  world 

going  to  affect  mankind?  " 

To  make  the  whole  stojy  clear,  from 
beginning  to  end,  calls  for  an  effort  to 
fust  put  ourselves  in  relation  with  that 
remote  time,  —  its  thought,  its  inter- 
ests, its  aims  and  civilization.  Let  us 
try  to  do  this  now,  at  this  time,  when 
tVoin  our  standpoint  of  achieved  suc- 
cess we  may  calmly  look  back  over  the 

ield,  and  see  clearly  the  causes  which 

liive  led  up  to  it  in  orderly  succession, 
hi  the  very  beginning  we  see  three  rival  civilizations. 

We  see  different  nations,  each  of  which  is  putting  forth 

?flbrts  to  gras})  dominion  in,  or  stamp  its  own  civiliza- 

1 


SPANiyit   AUMS. 


AN  .HISTOIIIC   RIIA. 


tion  upon,  the  New  World  in  (los})ite  of  the  other. 
We  see  civilization  appuieiitly  engaged  in  defeating  its 
own  ends.  Naturally,  then,  our  first  interest  centres  in 
the  combatants  themselves.  Who  and  what  are  these 
Old  World  gladiators,  wlio,  in  making  choice  of  the 
New  for  their  arena,  have  strii)ped  for  the  encounter? 

Great  affairs  were  engaging  the  attention  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  so  great  that  nearly  all  Europe  was  up  in 


SUir  OF   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTUKY. 


arms.  It  was  the  era  of  unsettled  conditions,  — of  old 
jealousies  and  animosities  revived,  of  new  opportunities 
and  new  adjustments  created  by  them.  But  among  the 
nations  of  Europe  power  was  very  differently  distrib- 
uted from  what  we  see  it  to-day.  Spain,  not  England, 
was  acknowledged  mistress  of  the  seas.  Not  yet  had 
England  wrested  that  proud  title  from  her  ancient  rival 
in  the  greatest  naval  battle  of  the  century.  Drake  and 
Frobisher  had  not  been  born.  Hawkins  was  a  lad, 
strolling  about  the  quays  of  his  native  seaport.  Wlu», 
then,  should  dispute  with  Spain  dominion  of  the  seas? 


The  1 

far  at  se 

shores  c 

a  new  ^^ 

cee<l  ill 

liad  die( 

life  acco] 

Yet  C 

inedes,^  f 

'K)tJi    the 

iiiid    tlie 

^Hd   was 

commotic 

Jiis     disci 

wJiat  tlie^ 

mankind, 

tlirlllod  A\ 

life  that  t 

'j'Ksoni.     ^^ 

■stepped   f( 

tl»e  front 

lions.      11 

iiud    slriki 

events  that 

fi'om     this 

^voi'king  in 

liistory  of 

%  tlie 

Portuguese 

t'f  Good  H< 

f"l  nations, 

^^veen  then 

^'J'e   east  ai 


AN   HISTORIC  t:iiA. 


TliG  royal  standard  of  Spain  liad  indeed  floated  very 
far  at  sea.  Colnnibns  had  borne  it  even  iu  sight  of  tliu 
sliores  of  Mexico  ;  but,  thongli  he  liad  given  to  Spain 
a  new  woHd,  lie,  tlie  man  of  his  century,  did  not  suc- 
cccmI  in  linding  his  long-songht  strait  to  India,  and  so 
had  died  without  seeing  tlie  one  great  purpose  of  his 
life  accomplished. 

Yet  Colnml)us,  so  to  speak,  was  a  lever  of  Archi- 
medes,^ for  with  the  greatness  of  his  idea  he  had  moved 
l)oth  the  Old  World 
and  the  New.  The 
Old  was  thrown  uito 
commotion  because  of 
his  discoveries  and 
what  they  implied  to 
mankind,  the  New 
tlirilled  with  the  new 
life  that  stirred  in  her 
Ijosom.  Spain  at  once 
stepped  forward  into 
the  front  rank  of  na- 


tions.      TIow 
and 


striKnig 


strange 
are    the 


ISABELLA  OF   Sl'AIN. 


events  that  have  flowed 

from     this     one    idea 

Avorking  in  one  man's  brain !     And  where,  in  all  the 

history  of  the  world,  shall  we  look  for  their  equal? 

By  the  time  Columbus  had  returned  to  Spain,  the 
Portuguese  mariner,  Diaz,  had  also  discovered  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  Upon  this  these  two  proud  and  power- 
ful nations,  Spain  and  Portugal,  agreed  to  divide  be- 
tween themselves  all  the  iniknown  lands  and  seas  to 
the   east  and   to   the  west   of  a   meridian   line  which 


AN    HISTORIC   ERA. 


should  be  drawn  from  jwle  to  pole,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Azores.  All  other  nations 
were  thus  to  be  excluded  from  the  New  World.^ 

Having  lirst  secured  a  solid  foothold  in  the  Antilles,^ 
through  Columbus  and  his  discoveries,  Spain  early  threw 
out  her  expeditions  into  Florida  (1512)  and  JNIexico 
(1519).  The  one  was  the  logical  result  of  the  other, 
for  St.  Domingo  and  Cuba  now  assumed  distinct  im- 
portance, as  stations,  whence  it  was  easy  to  move  for- 
ward upon  new  schemes  of  conquest.  In  the  liarbors 
of  these  islands  the  Spaniards  could  refit  their  ships  or 
recruit  their  crews  after  the  long  ocean  voyage  from 
Europe.  Cuba,  especially,  became  an  arsenal  of  tlic 
highest  military  importance,  which  Spain  took  great 
pains  to  strengthen. 

So  at  the  very  outset,  Spain  held  this  great  advan- 
tage over  her  competitors.     She  possessed  a  naval  sta- 
tion   conveniently  situated  for  making  descents  upon 
the  adjacent  coasts,  which  none  of  them  was  able  to  j 
secure  for  themselves. 

Columbus  died  in  150G ;  Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain, 
whose  name  by  the  accident  of  'me  is  linked  in  witii 
that  of  Columbus,  had  also  died ;  and  now  Charles, 
who  shortly  was  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany,  began 
his  most  eventful  reign.  The  period  it  covers  is  one 
of  the  most  momentous  in  modern  history,  and  as  great 
occasions  commonly  bring  tbrtli  great  men,  so  th()(>e 
monarchs  who  then  ruled  over  the  peoples  of  Europe 
were  worthy  of  the  time  in  which  they  lived.  Charles 
was  himself  one  of  the  greatest  of  these  monarchs. 
Francis  I.  of  France  was  another;  Henry  VIII.  ofj 
England  another.  Hence  we  have  felt  justified  in  say- 
ing, as  we  did  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  that  our  j 


start  ill! 

thing 

were  tl 

Duri 

took  pli 

a  hoioli 

in    her 

tliese  m 

o 

thonsaii 


were  kepi 
who  wrot 
Cortez  ail 
Cortez  off 

Mont.    W 
Cortez.    J 

Other  n 
the  New  "V 
tily  w\arne( 
for  herself 


AN    HISTORIC!    ERA. 


siinliiic^-point  was  fixod  in  nv  liistoric  em;  for  every 
(liing  hotokencd  tluit  lis  between  such  men  as  these 
were  tlie  struggle  was  to  be  ii  contest  of  giants. 

During  tliis  reign  the  conquests  of  Mexico  and  Peru 
look  i)lace.  During  tliis  reign  Spain  was  raised  to  such 
a  lieio'ht  of  g:reatness  as  had  never  before  been  known 
ill  lier  liistory.  Europe  looked  on  in  wonder  to  see 
these  grand  schemes  of  conquest  being  carried  on  three 
thousand  miles  away,  while  Spain's  powerful  neighbors 


MEDAL  OF  CHAni,E8  V. 


were  kept  in  awe  at  home.  The  English  poet  Dryden, 
wIkj  wrote  a  play  upon  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  makes 
Cortcz  and  Montezuma  hold  the  following  dialogue, 
Cortez  offering  peace  or  war :  — 

Mont.    Whence,  or  from  whom  dost  thou  those  ofFors  brine;? 
Cortez.    From  Charles  the  Fifth,  the  worhl's  most  potent  king. 

Other  nations  would  gladly  have  shared  the  riches  of 
the  New  World  with  the  conquerors,  but  Spain  haugh- 
tily warned  away  intruders,  meaning  to  keep  the  prize 
tor  herself  alone. 


6 


AN    HISTOIMC    KUA. 


It  \v;is  tlicii  tliat  Francis  I.  (IcmaiidiMl  to  be;  shown 
tliat  .'lausc  ill  llic  will  of  Adam  disinlu'rilini;"  liini  in 
the  New  World.  Hut  Sj)ain  was  too  t'orniidahlo  to  \>v. 
attackcil  on  tlio  seas.  On  the  land,  the  two  ,L»reat  rivals 
met  at  I'avia,  wIkmh;  the  piide  ol"  France  was  laid  so 
low  that  after  the  l)attle  was  over,  Francis  wrote  to  his 
mother  the  inemorahle  words,  so  often  made  nse  oi'  in 
like  emergencies,  "]\la(him,  all  is  lost  exeei)t  honor." 

The  pre-eminent 
grandeur  of  Spain,  at 
this  period,  shines  out 
all  the  clearer  ])y  com- 
parison with  the  infe- 
rior attitude  of  Eng- 
land, not  only  as  a 
military  power,  hut  in 
respect  of  peaceful 
achievement.  I>y  the 
light  Spain  carried  in 
the  van  of  discovery 
other  nations  moved 
forward,  but  at  a  dis- 
tance indicating  their 
respect  for  the  dictator  of  European  politics. 

It  is  worth  our  remembering  that  in  the  efforts  made 
to  obtain  a  foothold  upon  the  mainland,  or  terra  firma^^ 
as  the  Spaniards  then  called  it,  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  may  claim  precedence  in  the  order  of 
time.  Before  Cortez  landed  in  Mexico,  Ponce  de  Leon 
had  discovered  and  named  Florida.  Therefore  Florida 
was  the  first  j)ortion  of  the  North-American  continent 
to  receive  the  baptism  of  a  Christian  name.^ 

Although,  under   this  name   of   Florida,  Spain    first 


rONCE   DB   LEON. 


claimed 
central 
exj)lore 
('ort( 
of  ''])Io 
folio  wei 
retreat, 
1  wo   ni 
tiniie   tl 
World, 
Then 
Isthmus 
ianls  in 
less  seal 
presently 
across  j\I 
iiient  was 
(1542), 
by  Cortc 
coast, 
the  Vern 
North  la< 
'       So  tha 
coveted  \ 
to  his  nat 
liiin  M'lio 
queror  of 
provinces 
Su])ren 
<iuests  ab 
hers  had  t 
must  the 
^I'ii'its   by 


'\ 


AX    llISTOIilC    KIIA. 


il 

i^m 

ill 

m 

ful 

m 

fho 

1 

ill 

1 

3ry 

fl 

/ed 

^ 

lis- 

m 

.  /\-»  i» 

■'i^lB 

ide 


ol 

•i(la 
cut 

first 


claimed  every  >liiiif;  in  N(»rtli  ^Vmciic;!,  it  wiis  tlie  great 
central  region  lying  al)out  tlie  tropins  to  wiiicdi  her 
explorers  first  turned  their  attention. 

Cortez  landed  on  the  (Juli'  Coast,  niit"urle(l  his  banner 
of  '•'blood  and  gold,"  set  lire  to  his  ships/'  to  let  his 
followers  know  that  for  him  and  them  there  was  no 
retreat,  and  marched  on  into  the  heart  of  Mexico. 
'l\vo  initial  [toints  are  thus  fixed  from  which  to  con- 
tinue the  story  of  Spanish  domination  in  the  New 
World,  Florida  and  Mexico. 

Then  again,  having  at  last  found  their  way  across  the 
istiimus  of  Darien  to  the  South  Sea"^  (tr)13),  the  Si)aii- 
iards  in  a  measure  ceased  from  their  persistent  and  use- 
less search  for  an  open  water-way  to  India.  Cortez 
})resently  hewed  out  another  road,  with  the  sword, 
across  Mexico,  to  this  great  western  ocean.  His  achieve- 
ment was  quickl}'  followed  up  by  Ulloa  (1539),  Cabrillo 
(1542),  and  other  Spanish  navigators,  who  were  sent 
by  Cortez  or  the  Viceroy  to  extend  discovery  up  the 
coast.  They  coasted  the  Gulf  of  California,  iirst  called 
the  Vermilion  Sea,  and  sailed  beyond  it,  as  high  as  30° 
North  latitude. 

So  thanks  to  Cortez,  Spain  had  secured  the  much- 
coveted  way  to  India  at  last.  Yet  when  he  came  home 
to  his  native  country,  the  king  demanded  of  those  about 
him  Avho  Cortez  was.  "  I  am  a  man,"  said  tli€  coii- 
(pieror  of  Mexico,  "  who  has  gained  your  majesty  more 
provinces  than  your  father  left  you  towns." 

Supreme  on  land  and  sea,  Spain  pushed  on  her  con- 
([uests  abroad  without  hinderance.  If  such  deeds  as 
hers  had  so  irritated  the  self-love  of  a  rival  prince,  how 
must  they  have  stirred  the  blood  of  all  those  daring 
sjtirits   by   whom    Charles    was    surrounded,    and   who 


AN    msroiClC    VAIA 


i;ai>boa  uiwcovEuiNu   the   pacific  ocean. 
"  Silent  upon  a  peak  in  Daricn."  —Keats. 


ic^'c    1(1] 
ii;ikiii«^'  ( 

I     llU'illlt 

lie  kind 

clidiccst 

iJut   3 

2  1  Iicl'cloi'o 

\\('\v  worl 

is  (rue  tli 

iiicl  with 

'\u<j;   over 

iiulecd,  V 

]»i"<>elaiiiii 

willioiit  I 

a  iiioiiiiiiii 

all  cjiitap 


II 


sayiiiifatlril)! 
ciiiMliciaii  of 
^vi.iild  ^'ivi'  li 
lit'  wdtild  iiKi 

I'l.M'd  ill  OIH' 

•'I'  .-iKrch. 
-  I'ui'E   A 

lilt'  ai't  (if  ])ai 
^  i.illcda  bull. 
I       •■'  Antille 

\\V^t  Indies 
'  Tkui-.a 

lii'iii  land;  a  n; 

i-iid,s  todistint! 

iK'iit,  or  tliat  1 

ilio  Wi'st  huliii 


AN   iiisroiao  Kit  A. 


9 


l»iiriu'(l  to  (lisliii^iiisli  lliciiisolvcs  in  tlic  scrviro  of  llicir 
liri;('  lord  Jiiid  sovcieij^ii.  In  Ainciica,  iiicii  said  tho 
niakiii<4'  ol"  a  new  empire  had  begun.  If  that  were  so, 
it  meant  that  men  of  energy,  anihition  and  capacity, 
tiie  kind  of  men  on  wlioni  fortune  waits  to  bestow  lier 
elioicest  favors,  sliouhl  seek  lier  tliere. 

Iiut  Mexico  and  Peru  were  already  won.  Wlien, 
tlu'vefore,  the  Spaniards  l)egan  to  look  about  them  for 
new  woilds  to  con([uer,  their  eyes  fell  upon  Florida.  It 
is  Inic  tliat  all  those  who  had  set  forth  u[)on  this  errand 
iin(  with  nothing  but  disaster.*^  A  spell  seemed  hang- 
iiig  over  this  land  of  ilowers.  TJie  Spaniards  had 
indeed,  with  much  pomp,  planted  a  cross,  strangely 
jiroclainiing  themselves  masters  of  the  country;  3'et, 
without  power  to  hold  a  foot  of  ground,  this  cross  stood 
a  monument  to  their  failures,  as  its  inscription  seemed 
an  epitaph  to  their  presumption. 


'  I. EVER  OF  AnciiiMEDEs.  The 
sayiiii,'  ;iiliil)iili'(l  to  this  celobniU'd  malli- 
iinatician  of  aiificiil  limes,  tliat  if  they 
wiiuld  1,'ive  him  a  fiilenim  for  his  lever 
lie  would  move  the  world,  is  often  em- 
I'lciv  e<l  ill  one  oranolher  sense  as  a  ligiire 
(if  speech. 

-  I'oi'E  Ai.EXANDEU  VI.  conliimed 
the  act  of  i)aitilion  by  a  special  decree, 
called  a  bull. 

•'  Antilles,  an  early  nanao  of  the 
Wot  Indies. 

'  ■i'KiuiA    KiUMA,   literally  nieaninj^ 

I'll  111  land  ;  a  name  rust  used  by  the  Span- 

[  i.uds  to  distln!.'uisli  tlie  American  conti- 

ii'iit,  or  that  part  first  discovered,  from 

I  tho  West  India  Islands. 


c  Christian  Xame,  from  it«  dis- 
covery on  Kiu*ter  Sunday,  Pn-ir/in  Flori- 
diim  —  Flowery  Kiister. 

"  lU'itNiNi;  One'.s  Ships  ha**  piisswl 
into  a  proverb  often  iiseil  to  illustrate 
some  act  of  extraordinary  hardiho(>d,  by 
which  one  puts  it  out  of  his  |Knver  to 
draw  back  from  an  undertakinu.  Cor- 
lez  only  followtnl  the  example  of  the 
Emperor  Julian  in  ancient  IJome,  and 
of  William  the  Conqueror  in  Kni;la?:d. 

'  SoiTH  Sea.  The  I'acilic  Ocean 
wan  80  first  called. 

«  Disaster  befell  the  attempt  of 
Narvaez  upon  Florida  iu  152>>.  Look  it 
up. 


10 


i>i-:  soros  inscovKiiv  or  tiik  mississiiti. 


DE   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY   OF  THE    MISSISSIPPI.' 

"One  may  buy  gold  at  too  dear  a  price."  —  Sixtnith. 

\v  we  look  lit  tlie  oarliest  Si)anisli  maps  on  wliiuli  tlio 
(Jiilf  of  Mexico  is  laid  down,  not  only  do  we  find  the 
delta  of  a  "icat  river  \)\u  in  the  place  where  we  would 


KUENCU   MAP  OF   1542.      FROM  JOMAUD. 


expect  to  see,  on  our  maps  of  to-day,  the  Mississippi  mak- 
ing its  triumphal  entry  into  the  sea,  but  the  map-makers 
have  even  given  it  a  name  —  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo  — 
meaning,  in  their  language,  the  River  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
That  this  knowledge  ought  not  to  detract  from  the 
work  of  subsequent  explorers  is  quite  clear  to  our  minds, 
because  the  charts  themselves  show  that  only  the  coast 
line  ^  hud  been  examined  when  these  results  were  put 


I)K   SOTOS    DIBCOVKKY    OF   TIIK   MI.SSI.SSI  IMM. 


11 


iiiMiii  juu'clmu'iit.  Tlic  ('X[il(ti(.»rs  liad  indriMl  ioiiiid  a 
river,  and  made  a  note  oi'  it,  l)ut  liad  [lassed  on  llit'ir 
Ivav  witliout  so  niucli  as  suspucting  tliat  the  muddy 
Lvat«Ms  tliey  saw  llowiii*,'  out  of  thu  land  het'ore  them 
jhained  a  continent.     Had   tliey  made    th's   important 

liscovcry,  we  cannot  doubt  their  readiness  to  have 
i>i( lilted  hy  it  in  making  tlieir  tliird  invasion  of  Fiori(hi. 

Ml  the  discovery,  if  it  can  be  called  one,  had  no  prac- 
[ical  value  for  those  ♦>ho  made  it,  and  the  country 
iviiiaiiied  a  sealed  book  as  before.     We  cannot  wonder 

It  this  l)ecause  La  Salle  subsequently  failed  to  find  the 
liv(  1-  when  actually  searching  for  it,  though   he   had 
Si't'ii  it  l)efore. 
With   GOO  men,   both   horse    and    foot,   thoroughly 

'(|uiiii)ed  and  ably  led,  Hernando  de  Soto^  set  sail  from 

Havana  in  May,  and 
landed  on  the  Florida 
i-i  tast  on  Whitsunday  * 
i)f  the  year  1539. 
De    Soto    did    not 

jurn   his   ships,   like 

''ortes,  but  sent  them 

liatk   to    Havana    to 

iwait  his  further  or- 
Ik'is.      These     Span- 
aids   had  come,  not 

IS  peaceful  colonists, 

itokino"  for  homes  and 
welcome  among  the 

)wncrs  of  the  iL,oil,  but 

N  soldiers  bent  only  upon  conquest.     De  Soto,  as  we 

lave  seen,  had  brought  an  army  with  him.     Its  canq* 
as  pitched  in  military  order.     It  moved  at  the  truni- 


DG   80T0. 


12 


DK  SOTO  S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


pet's  martial  sound.     Two  liundrcd  horsemen  carrying 
lances   and  long  swords  marched   in   the  van.     Witli 
them   rode    the   Adelantado,   his   standard-bearer    and  | 
suite,     lieliiiid  these  squadrons  marched  the  men  of  all  I 
arms  —  cross-bowmen,  arcjuebusmen,  calivermen,  pike-  | 
men,  pages  and  squires,  who  attached  themselves  to 


SOLDIER   OF   1585. 


the  ollicers  in  l)e  Soto's  train  —  then  came  the  bag- 
gage with  its  camp-guard  of  grooms  and  serving-men: I 
and  last  of  all,  another  strong  body  of  infantry  solidly 
closed  the  rear  of  the  advancing  column,  so  that 
whether  in  camp  or  on  the  march,  it  was  alwaj's  ready 
to  fight.  In  effect,  l)e  Soto  entered  Florida  sword  inj 
hand,  declaring  all  who  should  oppose  him  enemies. 
De  Soto   enforced  an  iron   discipline,  never  failing! 


DE   SOTO  S    DISCOVKUY   OF    Till':    MISSISSI  PTr. 


18 


like  a  good  soldier,  himself  to  set  an  example  of  obedi- 
eiK^e  to  the  orders  published  for  the  eonduet  of  his 
army.  In  following  his  fortunes,  it  is  well  to  keep  the 
fact  firndy  in  mind  that  De  Soto  was  embarked  in  a 
campaign  for  conquest  only. 

Toward  tlie  unoffending  natives  of  the  country  the 
invaders  used  force  first,  conciliation  afterwards.  As  in 
Mi'xico  and  Peru,  so  here  they  meant  to  crush  out  all 
(ijtpdsition,  —  to  thoroughly  subjugate  the  country  to 
tlii'irarms.  De  Soto  had  served  under  Pizarro,  and  had 
shown  himself  an  apt  pupil  of  a  cruel  jnaster.  The 
Indians  were  held  to  have  no  rights  whatever,  or  at 
least  none  that  white  men  were  bound  to  respect. 
Meaning  to  make  slaves  of  them,  the  Spainards  had 
hiought  bloodhounds  to  hunt  them  down,  chains  with 
iron  collars  to  keep  them  from  running  away,  and 
wherever  the  army  went  these  poor  wretches  were  led 
along  in  its  train,  like  so  many  wild  beasts,  by  their 
cruel  masters.  On  the  march  they  w^ere  loaded  down 
witli  burdens.  When  the  Spaniards  halted,  the  cap- 
tives would  throw  themselves  upon  the  ground  like 
tired  dogs.  When  hungry  they  ate  what  was  thrown 
to  the  dogs.  So  far  as  known,  Ilernaiuh)  de  Soto  was 
the  first  to  introduce  slavery,^  in  its  wcust  form,  into 
th«i  country  of  Florida,  and  in  this  manner  did  this 
Christian  soldier  of  a  Christian  prince  set  up  the  first 
jj^overnment  by  white  men  begun  in  any  pait  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States. 

The  Si)aniards  were  seeking  for  the  gold  which  they 
l)eli(;ved  the  couidry  contained.  At  the  first  landing,  a 
^painard,  ^  who  had  lived  twelve  years  among  the 
t'lorida  Indians,  was  brought  by  them  into  the  cam]) 
among  his  triends.     The  first  thing  De  Soto  asked  this 


14 


DK   SOTO  S    DISCOVERY   OF    THE    MTSSISSIITI. 


man  was  wliether  he  knew  of  any  gold  or  silver  in  the 
country.  When  he  fiankly  said  that  he  did  not,  his 
countrymen  Avould  not  believe  him.  The  Indians, 
when  ([uestioned,  pointed  to  the  mountains,  whei'e  gold 
is,  indeed,  found  to  this  day.  Though  he  did  not  believe 
him,  I)e  Soto  took  the  rescued  man  along  with  him  as 
his  interpreter. 


CUBAN   BLOODUOUND. 


It  was  said,  and  by  many  believed,  that  somewhere 
in  Florida  stood  a  golden  city,  ruled  over  by  a  king  or 
high  priest  who  was  sprinkled  from  head  to  foot  witli 
gold-dust  instead  of  powder.  This  story  Avas  quite 
enough  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  the  Si)aniards,  wlm 
grew  warm  when  speaking  of  this  city  as  the  El 
Dorado,'  or  city  of  the  Gilded  One. 

Such  fables  would  not  now  be  listened  to  by  sensil)lc 


1)R    SOTO  S    DISCOVEUV   OF   THE    MISSISSIITF. 


15 


people,  ])ut  ill  tlio  time  we  are  writing  of  tliey  were 
lirnily  believed  in,  not  only  by  the  poor  and  ionorunt, 
but  by  the  greatest  i)rinees  in  Christendom,  as  well. 
No  doubt  they  helped  to  fill  De  Soto's  ranks.  Lord 
liaeon  tells  us  that  in  all  superstitions  wise  men  follow 
fools,  and  as  this  was  a  superstitious  age,  we  can  readily 
believe  him.  The  great,  the  prolifie,  the  true  mines  of 
the  country,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  was  not  thought 
of  !)y  these  soldiers  of  fortune  who  followed  De  Soto 
into  Florida. 

This  ill-starred  expedition  is  memorable  rather  for  its 
misfortunes  than  because  of  any  service  it  has  rendered 
to  civilization.  Most  graphically  are  these  shadowed 
forth  in  tlie  death  and  burial  of  De  Soto  himself,  and  in 
that  sense  they  will  stand  for  all  time  on  the  page  of 
history  as  a  memoi'ial  to  what  men  will  dare  and  suffer 
for  greed  of  gold.  In  any  other  cause  the  expedition 
would  be  worthy  an  epic. 

Although  composed  of  the  best  soldiers  in  the  world, 
with  a  valiant  and  skilful  captain  for  its  leader,  the 
little  army  became  so  hopelessly  entangled,  so  utterly 
lost  in  the  primeval  wildernesses,  that  to  this  day  it  lias 
never  been  possible  to  trace  out  the  true  course  of  that 
fatal  march.^  Wherever  he  could  hear  of  gold,  thither 
De  Soto  led  his  weary  and  footsore  battalions.  When 
baflled  on  one  side,  he  turned  with  rare  perseverance  to 
another.  And  though  they  were  being  wasted  in  daily 
combats,  though  famine  and  disease  followed  them  step 
by  step  through  swamp  and  everglade,  over  mountains 
and  rivers,  still,  with  wondrous  fatuity,  De  Soto  pushed 
ever  on.  Like  an  enchantress  his  El  Dorado  had  lured 
liim  on  to  his  destruction. 

For  about  two  years  De  Soto  and  his   companions 


1 


16         DE   SOTO's   DISCOVERY   OK   THE    MISSISSHMT. 

wholly  passed  from  the  knowledge  of  men.  A  mis- 
enible  remnant  of  this  once  gallant  hiind  then  made 
their  way  to  the  coast,  not  indeed  as  conciuerors,  but  as 
fugitives.^ 

Just  where  these   years   were   passed   is    not  clear. 
Long  ago  time  obliterated  all  traces  of    the  invaders' 


4 


DEl'AUTL'UE   OF   TUB   Sl'AMAUDS. 


march.  So  the  clew  is  lost.  Yet  we  do  know  that  one 
day  in  May,  1541,  two  years  after  its  first  landing,  the 
army  halted  on  the  banks  of  an  unknown  river  almost 
half  a  league  broad.  One  of  the  S(tldiers  says  of  it, 
that  if  a  man  stood  still  on  the  other  side  it  could  not 
be  discei'ned  whether  he  was  a  man  or  no.  The  river 
WHS  of  great  depth,  and  of  a  strong  tide  which  boie 


1)1 

along  w 
vaiiislies 
W'iitcrs 


'  MlSStS; 
Cliidi.-ui).  'I' 
li.v  early  writ 
or  "Orcat  I 
accepted  ine 
J-.'^/iiritu  S(i 
Spanish  ma|) 
tiaii  (JaliotV 
the  OHO  givet 
.Nfoliile  may 
people  seem  j 
(r'rdiii/i'  or 
liriiii<;lit  ex| 


O 

ill] 


full  stop  for 

resinned  liy  tli 

"e    sliall   i)re!' 

llieii  apjjears  < 

I.oiiis    Joliet 

Maine,   thougli 

"l/ii."    From  t: 

f^eded  all  otiiors 

-  Gulp  Oo 

down  with  tole 

"f    l.'ilS    (I'tol 

examined  it  in 

liasi..)  the  Gulf 

:ici'iirate  deliiie; 

•'fill!,'  the  hiju'h' 

Mexico    and    V 

ti<  S|)aiiiHh  Hail( 

;>'!  exclusively  S 

"tiler  llai,'  was  al 

'  IIkknando 

''y  one  of  liJH  fol 

of  few  words,  w 

l<'i'nv,iMd  sift  tla 

always  did   ^vliat 

"'>  all  men  did  coi 

-  li'l  PorUigall. 

*  WnrTstrxD^ 
festival  of   the  C 
metiiorating  the 
tJhost  upon  the  a] 

*  f^I.AVF.UY,  a  ( 


I)K    SOTOS    DISCDVKUV   OF   THE   MFSSISSIPPT. 


17 


along  with  it  contiiiuiill}'  many  great  trees.  All  doubt 
vanishes.  This  could  he  no  other  than  the  "  Father  of 
Wiitcis"  itself. 


one 
It  he 
»(>st 

it, 

mot 

vol' 

Ore 


'  Nfississii'Pi  rjiVKU  fifPt  mentioned 
Miiiliaii).  'I'lic  iiainc  iw  variously  Hpcllcil 
liy  I'arly  wriUM'H.  "  Fallu'r  of  WatcfH," 
or  "(Jicat  Katlu-r  of  WaliTH,"  in  lli(> 
accepted  iiieaiiiiig.  Most  probahly  the 
/;.</;/>77m  Santo  of  the  earliest  known 
Spaiiisli  map  of  Florida  n'>21),of  Seljas- 
li:iii  (,'alM)t's  (1544);  and  St.  Esprit  of 
the  one  K'ven  in  the  text,  tlioiigli  the 
Mobile  may  l)e  meant.  De  Soto's 
|ieople  seem  first  to  have  called  it  Ilio 
linnide  or  (rreat  River.  This  disaster 
broimlit  exi)loration  in  this  (luarter  to  a 
full  stop  for  forty  years,  when  it  was 
resumetl  hy  the  I^'reneh,  of  whost!  efforts 
we  siiall  presently  speal<.  The  river 
then  appears  on  a  map  of  tlie  explorer 
Louis  tToliet  (1074)  niider  its  present 
name,  though  there  spelled  "  .}fessn- 
xijii."  From  this  time  the  name  snper- 
Hcded  all  others. 

2  Gdlp  Ooast  of  Florida  is  laid 
down  with  tolerable  accuracy  on  a  map 
of  l.')13  (I'tolemy,  Venice).  Garay 
examined  it  in  1518.  By  1530  (I'tolemy, 
liasi',')  the  Oulf  Coast  had  obtained  quite 
accnrate  delineation.  The  Gulf,  itself, 
bciiii;  the  highway  for  ships  bound  to 
Mexico  and  Utican,  was  well  known 
to  Spanish  sailors.  Erelong  it  became 
an  exclusively  Spanish  sea  ou  which  no 
other  (lag  was  allowed. 

llKUNANDo  i)E  SoTO  is  described 
liy  line  of  his  followers  as  "  a  stern  man 
<if  few  words,  who,  though  he  liked  to 
know  and  sift  the  opiniuon  ul  other  men, 
lilways  (lid  what  he  liked  himself,  and 
fo  all  men  did  condescend  unto  his  will." 
—  h'll  Portiign/l. 

*  WniTsiTNDAY,  or  Whitsuntide,  a 
festival  of  the  Christian  (^hureh  com- 
mi'inoiating  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ohust  upon  the  apostles. 

"  Si.AVKKT,  a  certain  type,  it  is  true, 
I'xinted  among  the  Indians  of  this  conti- 


nent, who  held  their  captives  in  semi 
servitude,  though  the  condition  was 
totally  different,  in  thai  the  captive  was 
considered  eligilde  for  ado]>tion  into  tlie 
family  and  tribe  of  his  master.  Among 
the  Indians  the  question  of  social  e(|uaU 
ity  had  nothing  to  d(j  with  their  ]>olicy 
toward  their  jjrisoncM's,  or  such  as  re- 
fused to  become  incorporated  with  them- 
selves. 

"  A  Spaniard  who  came  with  Nar- 
vaez  to  Florida,  named  ,luan  (.lohn) 
Ortiz. 

T  El  Dorado.  Hear  this  name  in 
mind.     We  shall  meet  with  it  again. 

8  That  Fatal  MAuni.  'I'he  one 
clew  to  the  route  De  Soto  took  in  his 
wanderings  up  and  down  what  are  now 
the  (rulf  States,  is  found  in  the  names 
of  various  Indian  nations  whose  conn- 
tries  he  traversed.  Thus  thi?  names 
Ai)alaclie,  Coqn  (Coosa),  'ruscaluca 
(Tuscaloosa),  and  Chicafja  (Chicasaw) 
are  so  many  landmarks.  I'ut  no  precise 
data  remain  from  which  to  lay  down, 
with  reasonable  accuracy,  a  journey 
which  extended  over  at  least  eiglit  or 
ten  states,  covered  thousands  of  miles, 
and  occupied  years  in  making.  De 
Soto's  crossing  place  is  placed  on 
rownall's  (Eng.)  olVicial  map  of  Vi^'>  at 
or  near  Osier  Point,  on  the  east  bank, 
now  corresponding  with  the  north-west 
corner  of  the  Slate  of  Mississippi  and 
De  Soto  Cotinty.  On  a  map  of  1775,  it  is 
fixed  on  the  thirty-fourth  ]>arallel,  some 
distance  below  the  ancient  village  of  the 
Arkansas,  or  "  Handsome  Men." 

"  As  FiKJiTiVES,  De  Soto's  follow- 
ers, under  command  of  Moscoso,  his 
successor,  built  themselves  boats,  in 
which  they  descended  the  Mississip])i  to 
the  coast,  finally  reaching  Tampico,  in 
Mexico,  "  whereat  the  viceroy  greatly 
wondered." 


18 


iji:atii  and  duuial  of  de  soto. 


DEATH  AND  BURIAL  OF  DE  SOTO. 

"By  a  Portiigall  of  the  Company." 

"The  (iionei'iK)iir  fcilt  in  liiinsolfo  tliat  tlio  lionro 
a])}»r()jiehe(I,  wlieroiii  lio  was  to  leaiio  tliis  pivsoiit  life, 
and  called  for  the  Kings  Ollicers,  Ca[)taines  and  piinci- 
l)all  i)t!vsons.  lice  named  Luys  dc  Moscoso  de  Alua- 
rado  his  Captaine  generall.  And  presently  he  was 
swoine  l)y  all  that  were  present,  and  elected  for  Gou- 
ernour.  The  next  day,  being  the  one  and  twentieth 
of  JMay,  1542,  de[)arted  ont  of  this  life,  the  valorous, 
virtuous,  and  valiant  Captaine,  Don  Fernando  de  Soto, 
Gouernour  of  Cuba,  and  Adelantado  of  Florida  :  whom 
fortune  aduanced,  as  it  vseth  to  doe  others,  that  he 
might  have  the  liigher  fall.^  Hee  departed  in  such  a 
place,  and  at  such  a  time,  as  in  his  sicknesse  he  had 
l)ut  little  comfort:  and  the  danger  wherein  all  his  peo- 
ple were  of  perishing  in  that  countrie,  which  appeared 
before  their  eyes,  was  cause  sufficient,  why  euery  one 
of  them  had  neede  of  comfort,  and  why  they  did  not 
visite  nor  accoinpanie  him  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 
Luys  de  IMoscoso  determined  to  conceale  his  death  from 
the  Indians,  because  Ferdinando  de  Soto  had  made 
them  beleeue,  that  the  Christians  were  immortall ;  and 
also  because  they  tooke  him  to  be  hardy,  wise,  and  val- 
iant: and  if  they  should  knowe  that  hee  was  dead, 
they  would  be  bold  to  set  upon  the  Christians,  though 
they  lined  peaceably  by  them. 

"As  soon  as  he  was  dead,  Luys  de  Moscoso  com- 
manded to  put  him  secretly  in  an  house,  where  ho 
remayned  three  dayes :  and  remoning  him  from  thence, 
commanded  him  to  be  buried  in  the  niuht  at  one  of  tiie 


gates 

JIMS    Ii; 
SllSpOC 

A\Jiero 
I  <  inked 
viiders 
hy  nig] 

-Majitle 


DEATH    AND    lilJIllAL    OF    hlO    SOTO. 


19 


'j'atos  of  the  towne  witliiii  the  walL  And  iis  the  Iiuli- 
iins  Imd  seciio  liim  sick,  iuul  inisscd  liiin,  so  did  they 
suspect  what  luigld,  bo.  And  passing-  by  the  phice 
where  he  was  buried,  seeini;'  the  eartli  iiioiied,  tliey 
looked  and  spake  one  to  anotlier.  Liiys  de  jNIososco 
vnderstanding  of  it,  commanded  him  to  be  taken  up 
l)y  night,  and  to  cast  a  great  deale  of  sand  into  the 
Mantles,  wherein  he  was  winded  vp,  wherein  lie  was 


UUIIIAL   OF    1)K    SOTO. 


carried  in  a  canoa,  and  throwne  into  the  nudst  of  the 
riucr.  The  Cacii|ue  of  Guaclioya  im^uired  of  him, 
deiiuinding  wliat  was  become  of  his  brother  and  hjrd, 
the  Gonernor:  Liiys  de  Moscoso  told  him,  that  he  was 
gone  to  Ileauen,  as  many  other  times  he  did:  and  be- 
cause he  was  to  stay  there  certaine  dayes,  lie  liad  left 
liiiii  in  liis  place.  The  Cacique  thought  witli  himselfe 
that  lie  was  dead;  and  comnuinded  two  young  and  well 
pn)purtioned  Indians  to  be  brought  thither;  and  said, 


20 


DEATH    AND    BUllIAL   OF   DE   SOTO. 


that  the  vse  of  that  countrie  was,  when  any  Lord  died, 
to  kill  Indians,  to  waite  vpon  him,  and  serue  liini  by 
the  way:  and  for  that  i)nip()se  by  liis  eonmiandcnient 
were  those  eome  tliithcr;  and  pra3'ed  Luys  de  Moscoso 
to  command  them  t(»  l)e  beheacU'd,  that  they  might 
attend  and  seme  his  Lord  and  l)rother.  Liiys  de  INIos- 
coso  told  him,  that  the  (Touernoiir  was  not  dead,  Ijut 
gone  to  Ileaiien,  and  that  of  his  owne  Christian  Soul- 
diers,  he  had  taken  such  as  he  needed  to  serue  him,  and 
prayed  liini  to  command  those  Indians  to  be  loosed, 
and  not  to  vse  any  such  bad  custome  from  thence- 
forth." 


THE   INDIANS  OF   FLORIDA. 

Indian  High  Prienl.    "  Old  prophecies  foretell  our  fall  at  hand. 
When  bearded  men  in  floating  castles  land, 
I  fear  it  is  of  dire  portent."  —  Dryden's  Indian  Emperor. 

De  Soto's  invasion  of  Florida  is,  we  think,  most  mem- 
orable for  what  it  has  preserved  touching  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Indians  with  whom  the  Spaniards 
dealt  in  such  evil  sort.  In  this  light  only  has  it  historic 
value.  Though  incomplete  as  to  details  it  is  our  earli- 
est portrait  of  this  singular  people,  as  they  existed  a  full 
century  before  New  England  was  settled,  and  so  marks 
a  definite  limit  of  history  whence  to  date  that  knowl- 
edije  from. 

Yet  when  we  shall  have  gone  so  far  back  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  primitive  race  as  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  nothing  is  found  in  their  manners, 
customs  or  traditions,  as  they  have  come  down  to  us, 
which  would  go  to  confirm  the  theory  that  the  ances- 
tors of  these  people  were  more  civilized  than  themselves. 


TIIK    INDIANS   OF    FLORIDA. 


21 


Tlie  littlo  they  seem  to  liave  known  about  it  belongs  to 
the  very  infancy  of  art,  not  to  its  growtli  out  of  lower 
conditions.  Tliese  Indians  knew  how  to  make  beads  of 
(lie  pearl  oyster.  So  did  those  of  New  England  know 
Iiow   to   make   shell   wampum.     The    Florida    Indians 

could  weave  cloth  of  the  fibre  of 
wild  hemp  and  dye  it  prettily ; 
they  could  tan,  dress,  and  deco- 
rate deerskins ;  had  found  out 
how  to  mould  rude  earthen  ves- 
sels and  bake  them  in  the  sun. 
In  some  of  tliese  things  they  cer- 
tainly surpassed  their  brethren  of 
New  England,  though  their  arms 
and  im[)lements  are  quite  like 
tlios(3  used  farther  north.  Then 
inasmuch  as  all  the  tools  they  had 
to  work  with  were  of  the  rudest 

, sort,  being  shaped   out 

of  stone  or  bone,  so  the 

making  of  most  things 

-^S  cost  them  a  great  deal 

J^^     of  time  and  labor,  and 

■^^^^^Hi^ij  hence    the     mechanical 

arts  in  use  among  them 

were  such  only  as  S})ring 

from  the  first  and  most  pressing  wants  of  a  people,  as  is 

everywhere  the  case  in  the  history  of  primitive  man.^ 

It  must  l)e  borne  in  mind  that  what  we  are  told 
al)out  these  Florida  Indians  is  written  by  their  enemies. 
Therefore,  when  their  courage  is  praised,  we  feel  that 
tlicy  must  have  deserved  it.  Perhaps  what  most  aston- 
ishes us  about  the  narratives  themselves  is  the  cold- 


FLOItlDA  WABUIUB. 


22 


THE    INDIAXS   OF    KF.OIIIDA. 


Moodcd  way  in  wliicli  tlicy  iccoiiiil  {\\r  shmglitiT  made 
oF  tlu'sc!  Indians,  who  sccni  lianlly  to  have  been  cim- 
sidi'ied  in  tlie  lii;h(  of  liuinaii  beinj^s. 

It  would  sceni  as  if  the  ill-ropulu  of  the  S})aniai(ls 
must  have  gone  l)efore  tiiem,  for  upon  Hearing  the 
Fh)rida  sliort^  (he  invaders  saw  smokes  everywliere  curl- 
ing above  it,  which  Ihcy  soon  found  were  lighted  for  tiie 
purpose  of  warning  tlie  inhabitants  to  be  on  their  guard. 

The  first  Indians  met  with  were  instantly  set  upon  by 
Dc  Soto's  horsemen,  who  had  nearly  killed  John  Ortiz 
before  they  discovered  him  to  be  u  Christian  like  them- 
selves. Though  in  doubt  what  the  landing  of  so  many 
white  men  could  mean,  these  Indians  were  h>3'ally 
bringing  Ortiz  as  a  peace-offering  to  the  Spanish  cani]>. 
It  is  worth  while  to  remember  this,  since  on  the  part 
of  the  Spaniards  the  first  act  was  one  of  violence  and 
intimidation. 

Therefore,  whenever  the  Spaniards  approached  an 
Indian  town,  the  inhabitants  (led  from  it  in  terror;  and 
so  in  order  to  procure  guides  to  lead  them,  or  porters  to 
carry  the  baggage,  while  on  the  march,  I)e  Soto  found 
liimself  obliged  to  seize  by  force  such  Indians  as  his 
own  men  could  lay  hands  upon.  On  these  he  put 
chains  and  caused  them  to  bear  the  burdens  of  his  sol- 
diers. If  possible,  a  chief  was  kidnapped  to  be  held  a 
hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  tribe.  No  Spaniard 
was  therefore  safe  outside  his  encampment.^ 

Again,  the  Spaniards  plundered  the  villages  they 
entered  of  wdiatever  they  stood  in  need,  just  the  same 
as  if  they  were  in  a  conquered  country.  If  they 
wanted  corn  they  took  it ;  if  they  found  any  thing  of 
value  they  helped  themselves,  without  making  any 
show  of  paying  for  it.    In  consequence^  the  exasperated 


THE    INDIANS  OF    lhUKIJ»A. 


2:5 


Indians  evorywliere  <>l)stiu(tle(l  T)e  Sotn's  marcli  so  far 
as  it  lay  in  their  power  to  do  so;  and  on  tli(»  other 
hainl,  in  |»n»[)oi'tion  to  tlie  resistance  he  mot  witli,  De 
Soto  treated  th(^  natives  with  t^reater  or  less  severity. 
We  know  these  Indians  therefore,  for  men  of  eoura^^e, 
sinee  in  defence  of  their  homes  and  liberties  they  eould 
liu'lit  with  naked  breasts  against  men  in  armor,  and  with 
hdws  and  arrows  against  lire-arms.'^ 


I'AI.ISADKU   TOWN. 


So  that  by  the  time  De  Soto  arrived  at  the  Mississippi, 
lie  iiad  lost  over  a  hundred  men  and  most  of  his  horses. 

What  such  treatment  would  be  likely  to  lead  to  is 
rasily  foreseen.  Most  surely  it  sowed  the  seeds  of 
lilt  are  hostility  to  the  white  man  broadcast.  His  crnelty 
hi'caine  a  tradition.  The  Indian  has  a  hjng  memory 
and  is  by  nature  revengeful.  From  having  looked 
upon  the  whites  as  gods,  gifted  with  all  good  and 
beneficent  things,  the  Indian  quickly  perceived  them  to 
be  a  cruel  people  filled  with  avarice,  and  bent  on  de- 


24 


TIIK    INIUANS   OK    FLOIMDA. 


strovin"  Iiim.  lli.s  worst  eiiemlos  coiiM  do  no  more. 
And  thus  the  two  rtices  met  each  oilier  in  tlie  New  W(»il(l. 
VVe  shouhl  not  omit  to  meiilioii  here  oik;  of  the 
strtuigest  things  thiit  fell  ont  in  the  wliole  coursi!  of  tin- 
expedition.  When  the  Spaniiird.s  eume  to  the  town  of 
QuiziKpiiz,  where  thvy  nuide  some  stay,  Indians  Hocked 
there  from  distant  villages  in  order  to  see  for  them- 
selves what  manner  of  people  had  come  among  them; 
for  they  said  it  had  been  foretold  them  by  their  fathers' 
fathers  that  men  with  white  faces  should  come  and  subdue 

them,  and  now 
they  believed 
the  prophecy 
had  come  true. 
In  api)car- 
ance,  the  In- 
lian     vill 


and 


villages 
towns 


A  FLU1U1>A  IMUlAM't)   CABIN. 


-j&A'  ^^^^'^    every- 
where   much 


the  same.  The 
houses  were  little  round  eabins,  built  of  wooden  palings, 
sometimes  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  sometimes  witii 
canes  or  reeds  laid  on  the  roof  in  the  manner  of  tiles. 
The  better  to  resist  the  fierce  Gulf  winds,  they  were 
built  low  on  the  ground.  In  the  colder  climates,  the 
Avails  would  be  smeared  over  with  clay.  The  only 
difference  to  be  perceived  between  the  cabins  of  the 
common  sort  and  the  dwellings  of  the  chief  men  was 
that  they  were  larger  and  more  roomy  residences,  Mitli 
sometimes  a  gallery  built  out  over  the  front,  under 
which  the  family  could  sit  in  the  heat  of  the  day. 

Every  little  knot  of  cabins  would  have  one  or  more 


TIIK    INDIANS   OK    KI/)i:n>A. 


26 


cniii-dllis  clnst'  Ix'sidt!  it.  Tliiswiis  ii  loft  or  •rraiiju'v 
set  Up  ill  tli«'  air  on  |Mtlcs,  exiictly  in  tlic  iiiaiiiicr  now 
liiiulistMl  by  tiu!  wliilL'S,  aiid  loi"  llic  like  jtm|ios('  (if 
>lniiiiLj  iiji  niaizo  or  Indian  corn  wliicli  was  univcisaliy 
ciillivaliMl.  ( )nly  for  tlic  supplies  of  maize  cvi'iywliorc 
Iniiiid.  lioth  tliL'  S[>aniards  and  tlioir  horses  would  soon 
liavc  starved,  as  corn"*  beeanio  tlieir  only  urtiele  of  food, 
and  ol'ttinies  lliey  liad  to  go  hungry  tor  want  of  it. 


.MAKI.NU   A   (A.NOK. 


Men  and  women  wore  mantles  woven  either  of  tlie 
liiirk  of  trees  or  of  u  wild  sort  of  liem[)  wliicli  the 
indiaiis  knew  how  t«)  dress  properly  for  the  ]»uri)ose. 
lility  also  understood  the  art  of  tanning  and  dyeing 
<ii(]i  skins  as  were  obtained  in  the  chase,  wliieh  they 
ils(»  made  up  into  garments.  Two  of  these  mantles 
fiiade  a  woman's  usual  (b-oss.  One  was  worn  about 
tlicin,  hanging  from  the  waist  down,  like  a  petticoat  or 
l'«»\vn.  tlie  other  would  lie  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder 
[villi  the  right  arm  bared,  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyp- 


26 


Tin-:  iNnrANs  nr  flouida. 


tians.  Tlic  waiiiors  wore  only  this  last  iiiaiitlc,  wliiili 
allowed  them  iVee  use  ol'  the  right  arm  in  drawing"  forth 
an  arrow  I'rom  th(!  (juiver,  or  in  bending  tlie  how. 
When  dressed  iq)  in  his  liead-gear  of  feathers,  and  Avear- 
ing  his  ornamented  mantle  ilung  aeross  his  shoulder, 
how  ni  hand,  and  carrying  his  well-lilled  (|uivcr  at  his 
hack,  the  Indian  warrior  made  no  unpictures([ue  figure, 
even  beside  the  heavily-armed  white  man,  for  he  was  of 
a  well-proportioned  and  muscular  build,  with  good  fea- 
tures, an  eye  like  the  eagle's,  and  a  bearing  which  told 
of  the  manhood  throbbing  beneath  his  dusky  skin. 

The  Indians  of 


Florida  wor- 
shipped both  a 
U'od  of  good  and 
evil.  They  also 
made  sacrifice  to  I 
both  spirits  alike. 
In  some  places] 
they  worshipped  and  sacrificed  to  the  sun  as  the  great 
life-giving  principle;  in  others  they  had  a  curious  cus- 
tom when  any  great  lord  died,  of  sacrificing  living] 
persons  to  apx)ease  or  comfort  his  spirit  with  the  oiler- 
ing  of  these  other  spirits  who  were  to  serve  him  aiiilj 
bear  him  company  in  the  hapjiy  hunting-grounds. 

8(mie  tribes  kept  their  dead  nnburied  for  a  certain] 
time  in  a  rude  sort  of  ])antheou,  or  temple,  dedicated  ti 
their  gods.'*     Over  this  a  strict  watch  was  kept  to  guard! 
against  the  intrusion  of  evil  spirits  who  were  supposedj 
to  lie  in  wait,  in  the  form  of  some  prowling  beast  ofl 
prey.     This  custom  sprung  from  a  belief  that  the  si»irit< 
of  the  dead  revisited  their  mortal  bodies  at  times. 
Besides  maize,  pumpkins,  beans,  and  melons,  what-j 


^'&-: 


A  CUIEFTAIN'S   (JUAVE. 


THE   INDIANS   OF    FLORIDA. 


27 


(Vti  iiiituial  fruits  tlie  country  produced  tlie  Indian 
lived  on.  lie  liuiited  and  lisiied.  The  summer  was  his 
sciisoii  of  plenty,  the  winter  one  of  want,  sometimes 
(if  distress,  l)ut  in  the  semi-tropical  region,  l)orderino' 
iijKiii  the  Gulf,  his  wants  were  fewer  and  more  easily 

i  supplied,  and  hence,  as  a  rule, 
life    was    freer    from    hardship 
tiian  ill  more  northern  climes. 
The  stronger  nations  made  war 

I  upon   the   weaker,  but   treaties 

I  wore  duly  respected.  The  van- 
(juished  were  compelled  to  pay 

Itiihutc  to  the  conquerors  or  join 

[tiioniselves  with  some  stronger 

I  tribe  than  their  own.  The  lan- 
cniau'cs  differed   so   much  with 

I  different  nations,  that  De  Soto 
found  lie  must  have  a  new  in- 
terpreter for  every  new  nation 
111' visited;  nevertheless  the  In- 
dians (juickly  learned  to  speak 
till'  Spanif.h  tongue.  In  public  the 
pt'oplc  behaved  with  great  pro- 

mriety,  showed  respect  for  their  I!    'fdQ 

rulers,  and  often  confounded  De  ^        ^' 

S,.to.  who  pretended  to  super-         rRocEssioNAL  fans. 

iiatural  powers,  by  the  shrewdness  of  their  replies. 
For  instance,  when  the  Spaniard  gave  out  that  he  was 
the  child  of  the  sun,  a  Natchez  chief  pron^jtly  bid  him 
div  ii[)  the  river,  and  he  would  believe  him.  In  some 
[•lai'i's  the  Indians  greeted  the  Spaniards  with  songs 
jaad  hiiisic.  Their  instruments  were  reeds  hung  with 
tinkling  balls  of  gold  or  silver.     When  the  chieftain,  or 


28 


TIIK    INDIANS    OF    KI/)I{ir>A. 


CiicitpU',  wvui  al)r()a(l  in  staic,  men  walked  hy  liis  side 
eanyiiig  screens  elegantly  made  of  the  l)iiglit  plumage 
of  l)irds.     These  were  borne  at  the  end  of  a  long  staff. 

The  Spaniards  found  the  fertile  parts  of  the  country 
everywhere  crowded  with  towns,  and  very  populous. 
But  they  did  not  find  the  gold^  they  coveted  so  mucli. 
They  called  the  Indians  a  people  ignorant  of  all  tlie 
Ijlessings  of  civilization,  l)ut  to  their  honor  be  it  alsd 
sai<l,  they  were  free  from  the  vices  by  which  it  is 
accompanied  and  degraded. 


'  PniMiTiVE  Man.  All  tho  articles 
named  as  beinir  foiinil  in  coiniiioii  tis<! 
amoDi;  the  Florida  Indians  have  heeii 
taken  from  the huiial  mounds  which exiKt 
in  the  Stiites  of  Ohio,  Georgia,  North 
Carolina,  Tennessee,  Wisconsin,  etc. 
And  all  are  more  or  less  referred  to  as  so 
many  eviilences  of  an  extinct  civilization. 

2  Narvakz  pnrsned  the  same  iiolicy, 
and  met  with  like  treatment. 

*  Fire-arms  of  that  period  were 
very  clumsy  weapons  indeed.  The 
arquebus  was  a  short  hand  gun,  the  cal- 
iver  longer,  and  with  the  help  of  a  slow- 
match  could  be  (ircd  from  a  rest.  Only 
a  certain  proportion  of  the  infantry  were 
tlnis  armed ;  the  rest  carried  pikes. 

*  Corn.  The  Indians'  corn-mill  was 
a  smooth  round  hole  worn  in  the  rock. 


.\  stone  jiostle  was  used.  The  coarsi 
meal  mixed  with  wati-r  or  tallow,  nr 
both,  was  then  wrapi)ed  in  leaves,  ami 
baked  in  hot  ashes. 

5  Bi'UiAL  I'LAfES.  Upon  findinu 
one  of  these  receptacles  for  the  deail,  u 
Franciscan  of  Narvae/.'  company,  who 
declared  the  practice  idolatrous,  cansul 
all  the  bodies  to  lie  burnt,  thereby  miiih 
incensing  the  natives. 

«  (.iOLD.  Uearing  the  Spaniards 
always  asking  for  gold,  the  nativis 
shrewtlly  made  use  of  it  to  rid  thira 
selves  of  these  unwelcome  visitors,  Ijy 
sending  them  farther  and  farther  away. 
In  reality  the  Indians  had  almost  iioiiv 
of  the  precious  metals,  but  the  rinding  of 
a  few  trinkets  among  them  seems  to 
Lave  dazzled  De  Soto's  eyes. 


HOW  NEW  MEXICO  CAME  TO  BE  EXPLORED. 

"Northward,  beyond  the  mountains  we  will  go, 
Where  rocks  lie  covered  with  eternal  snow." 

In  tlie  disasters  of  Narvaez  and  De  Soto,  the  movemoiit  | 
from  the  side  of  Florida  towards  the  West  had  met  with 
an  untimely  check.    But,  strangely  enough,  it  made  prog- 
ress in  another  quarter  through  these  very  misfortunes. 


now    NKW    ISIEXICO    CAME    TO    HH    EXl'LOllKI).        29 

For  while  De  Soto  was  vuiiily  seeking  for  gold  on 
tiiat  side,  his  countrymen  were  bestirring  themselves 
ill  the  Slime  business  in  ii  ([uite  different  direction,  iis 
wi'  shall  see. 

At  this  time  it  was  Don  Antoido  de  INIendoza  who 
was  the  emperor's  viceroy  in  Mexico.  Now  Mcndoza 
iiiiiied  to  gain  distinction  with  his  sovereign  by  being  the 

fjuid«iiEa<)o,iOU    '^ 


IIOCK    INsrUlPTIONS,   NEW    MEXICO. 


[liist  who  shoidd  discover  and  make  known  to  the  world, 
all  the  unexplored  region  lying  north  of  Mexico,  which 

Kvas  accounted  as  rich  as  any  \'et  known  to  the  Sj)iin- 
iards.  Most  of  all,  perjiaps,  ]\Ien(h)za  wished  to  find  the 
land's  end  in  that  northern  direction,  as  by  doing  so  he 
would  complete  the  work  of  putting  a  girdle  round  the 

[t'oiitiiient,  and  gain  the  glory  of  it  for  liimself. 

Various  efforts  were  making  to  do  this  both  by  land 

land   sea.i     And    curiously    enough    these   efforts  came 

Ihoiii  the  West. 


30       HOW   NKW   MEXICO   CAME  TO   BE   EXPLORED. 


For  tlio  purpose  in  hand  Mendoza  had  with  him  in 
INIexico  two  or  three  survivors  ^  of  Narvaez'  expedition, 
who,  in  the  most  wonderful  manner,  liad  made  tlicii 
way  overkmd  tlirougli  the  unknown  regions  of  tliu 
Nortli,  from  Florida  into  Mexico.  These  men  told 
the  viceroy,  Mendoza,  that  the  natives  wlio  dwelt  among 
the  mountains  to  the  north  were  a  very  rich  people, 
who  lived  in  great  cities  and  had  gold  and  silver  in 
abundance.  Mendoza  also  held  captive  some  Indians 
whose  homes  were  in  that  far-away  country,  which  he 
was  now  meditating  how  to  conquer. 

Yet  two  important  obstacles  met  INIendoza  at  the 
start.  In  the  first  place,  the  unknown  country,  which 
the  Spaniards  vaguely  knew  by  the  name  of  Cibola,'^ 
could  be  reached  only  through  mountain  defiles,  so 
rugged  and  inaccessible  that  men  questioned  whether  it 
could  be  reached  at  all.  Nature  had  admirably  adapted 
it  for  defence.  Clearly,  then,  a  few  resolute  men  miglit 
easily  defend  their  country  against  a  host,  and  tlie 
Spaniards  having  reason  to  expect  the  most  determined 
resistance  found  a  twofold  hinderance  in  their  way. 

The  second  obstacle,  the  Spaniards  had  created  for 
themselves,  by  making  slaves  of  all  natives  taken  in 
arms.  Rather  than  be  slaves  the  Indians  had  fled  into 
the  mountain  fastnesses.  As  their  fear  of  the  Span- 
iards was  very  great,  these  fugitives  secreted  themselves 
in  the  most  inaccessible  places,  choosing  rather  to  live 
like  wild  beasts  than  be  branded  like  cattle  with  hot: 
irons,  and  nursing  their  hatred  of  their  oppressors. 
Not  venturing  to  come  down  into  the  open  valleys 
where  they  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  their  conciuerors. 
these  unhappy  people  lived  in  caves,  or  in  stone  dwell- 
ings perched  high  among  the  rocks,  where  they  could 


now    NEW   MEXICO   CAME   TO   JJE   EXl'LOltEl).      Bl 


V'nli/oniia 


._A 


NEW   JIKXICO.  —  HOUTE   OF   HI'AMSU   INVAUEUS, 


32       now    NEW    MEXICO   (JAME   TO    IJE    EXI'LOIIED. 


at  least  breathe  tlie  air  of  liberty  uninolested.  Those 
who  formerly  lived  in  the  valleys  had  also  lied  to  the 
iiiouiitains  when  they  heard  of  the  Spaniards'  eoniino-. 
So  the  Spaniards  wonld  have  to  contend  not  only  witli 
natnre,  but  with  a  brave  and  a  hostile  people,  if  they 
attempted  to  sul)due  them. 

Considering  that  great  difiiculties  are  often  overcoiin' 
or  results  accomplished  by  simple  means,  the  viceroy 
took  a  poor  barefooted  friar  ^  from  his  cell,  gave  him 
one  of  Narvaez'  men  for  a  guide,  and  with  a  few 
natives  of  the  country  sent  him  out  to  explore  the 
unknown  wilds.  Upon  reaching  Culiacan,  which  was 
the  most  northerly  place  the  Spaniards  had  made  thcii  I 
way  to,  the  captive  Indians  were  sent  ahead  with  mes- 
sages of  peace  and  good-will  to  the  distrustful  natives, 
who  took  good  care  to  keep  out  of  the  way. 

These  promises  of  peace  induced  a  great  man}'  of  the 
natives  to  come  down  from  the  mountains;  and  oiko 
there  they  were  easily  wtju  over  with  gifts  and  kind 
words,  and  in  gratitude  for  the  promise  not  to  capture 
and  enslave  them  as  they  had  done,  told  the  Spaniards  to 
go  and  come  as  freely  as  they  chose.  The  natives  were 
then  sent  home  to  spread  the  news  among  their  l)rethren. 

The  way  being  thus  opened,  the  friar  and  his  party 
set  forth  by  one  route,  while  still  another  party,  led  by 
Vasquez  de  Coronado,^  went  forward  by  a  different  one. 
on  the  same  errand.  Of  the  two  i)arties,  that  of  the 
friar  alone  succeeded  in  penetrating  far  into  the  coun- 
try, and  the  information  lie  brought  back  now  reatls 
more  like  a  storv  from  the  Arabian  Ni^jits  than  the 
sober  record  of  one  already  well  versed  in  the  country 
and  ])eople,  such  as  ISIendoza  says  lie  believed  Father 
Marco  to  be.     Yet  the  father  is  tlu)U<rht  to  have  reached 


now    NEW    MEXICO   CAME   TO    I5E   EXPLORED.       33 


Cihola,  or  Zuni,  wlr'cli  wus  the  object  of  liis  journey, 
wlioii  the  murder  of  his  negro  guide  caused  him  to 
hast  en  back  with  all  speed  to  the  Spanish  sottlements. 

So  these  attempts,  as  well  as  a  second  made  by 
Coronado  in  the  following  year,  were  fruitless  in  every 
tiling  except  the  formal  act  of  taking  possession  of  the 
Loimtry,  and  the  ac([uisition  of  some  imperfect  geo- 
grajjliical  knowledge  about  the  valleys  of  the  C^dorado,*" 
tlu'  (iila,'  and  the  Kio  Grande  del  Norte.^  About  all 
we  can  say  of  them  is  that  the  explorers  went  through 
the  country. 

As  in  Florida,  so  here  a  long  periixl  of  imiction  fol- 
l()\v('(l  these  failures.  In  both  cases  the  Spaniards  had 
come  and  seen,  but  not  conquered.  The  Mississip[)i 
flowed  on  untroubled  to  the  sea,  the  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent still  kept  its  secret  fast  locked  in  the  bosom  of 
its  hills.  But  we  know  now  that  the  gold  and  silver 
the  Spaniards  craved  so  much  to  possess  were  there 
waiting  for  the  more  successful  explorers. 

It  is  forty  years  before  we  again  hear  of  any  serious 

j  effort  made  to  search  out  the  secrets  of  this  land  of 

I  mystery.     The  Church  then  took  the  matter  in  hand. 

lit  was  wisely  decided  that  the  best  way  to  conquer  the 

[jieoplc  was   to  convert  them.     Accordingly  two  pious 

Franciscans  set  out  from   the    Spanish    settlements    in 

[New  iiiscav^  on  this  errand.     This  time  thev  ])enetrate(l 

into  the  country  ])y  the  valley  of  the  Rio  (xrande,  under 

protection  of  a  few  soldiers,  who,  after  conducting  the 

lathers  to   a  remote   part   of  this  valley,   left  them    to 

hiuisiu;  their  pious  work  alone,  and  themselves  returned 

to  New  Biscay.     Hearing  nothing  from  these  missiona- 

lies,  those  who  had  sent  them  fitted  out  an  expedition 

lin  the  following  year  — 1582  —  to  go  in  search  of  them. 


34 


now    NEW    MKXICO   (^AMK    TO    MK    EXl'LOUEU. 


IIO 


This  rescuing  purly  brought  back  a  more  exact  knowl- 
edge of  the  country  and  people  than  had  so  far  been 
obtained  through  all  the  many  explorers  put  together. 

In  proportion  as  they  advanced  up  the  Kio  Grande, 
these  explorers  found  everywhere  very  populous  towns. 
The  people   liveil   well   and  contentedly.     Some   weii' 


JUNCTION   OF   THE   (JILA   AND  COLORADO. 


found  who  had  even  kept  the  faith  taught  them  In 
Christians,'"  long  ago,  but  in  general  they  worshipi)e(l 
idols  in  temples  luiilt  for  the  pvupose.  In  the  natives 
themselves  the  Spaniards  remarked  a  wide  difference.  ^ 
Some  went  almost  naked,  and  lived  in  poor  hovels  of  I 
mud  covered  with  straw  thatch.  Others,  again,  would  | 
be  clothed  in  skins,  and  live  in  houses  four  stories  high.  | 


Often  tl 

skilfully 

(iwii   ma 

It  seeme 

lor  the  t( 

ianls  lia( 

explorer; 

became. 

Mexico, 

the  exph 

One  o 

c()iitaine( 

upon  the 

access  to 

which  foi 

tlu!  Spani 

sight   she 

fortresses 

All  the  \\ 

all   the  a 

()i)8tacles 

some  distj 

ever  rains 

was  suppli 

a  neighbo] 

lii'w   eond 

Indians  tli 

Turning 

west,  the  ( 

'^tiiii,  whe 

just  as   C 


II 


ere  our  : 


iit  a  great  ( 


HOW    NEW    MP:XIC(>    CAMK   to    he    EXl'LOUED. 


35 


often  tlie  natives  showed  tlie  Spaniards  cotton  mantles 
skillnlly  woven  in  stripes  of  wliite  and  hlne,  of  tlieir 
own  niaiving  and  dyeing,  which  were  nnieh  admired. 
It  seemed  for  the  most  part  a  hind  of  tlirift  and  phnity, 
tor  the  towns  were  poj)uk)US  beyond  any  thing  tlie  Span- 
iards had  ever  dreamed  of.  And  the  farther  north  the 
exi)lorers  went,  the  better  the  condition  of  the  peoj)le 
became.  Finding  themselves  in  a  land  much  like  Old 
Mexico,  in  respect  of  its  mountains,  rivers,  and  forests, 
the  explorers  gave  it  the  name  of  New  Mexico. 

One  of  the  greatest  towns  visited,  called  Acoma,'^ 
contained  above  six  thousand  persons.  It  was  Iniilt 
upon  the  level  top  of  a  high  cliff,  with  no  other  way  of 
access  to  it  than  Ijy  ste])s  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock 
which  formed  the  cliff.  The  sight  of  this  place  made 
the  Spaniards  wonder  not  a  little  at  the  skill  and  fore- 
sight shown  in  planning  and  building  these  natural 
fortresses,  which  nothing  but  famine  could  conquer. 
All  the  water  was  kept  in  cisterns.  But  this  was  not 
all  the  aptitiule  these  people  showed  in  overcoming 
obstacles  or  supplying  needs.  Their  cornfields  lay  at 
some  distance  from  the  town.  In  this  country  it  hardly 
ever  rains.  So  the  want  of  rain  to  make  the  corn  grow 
was  supplied  by  digging  ditches  to  bring  the  water  from 
!i  neighboring  stream  into  the  fields.  We  therefore  see 
how  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  had  taught  tlie 
Indians  the  uses  of  irrigation. ^^ 

Turning  out  of  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  to  the 
west,  the  explorer's  at  length  came  to  the  province  of 
Zuni,  where  many  Spanish  crosses  were  found  standing 
just  as  Coronado  had  left  them  forty  years  before. 
Here  our  Si)aniards  heard  of  a  very  great  lake,  situated 
at  a  great  distance,  where  a  people  dwelt  who  wore  brace- 


3(1        now    NKW    INIKXICO    (JAMK    I'O    UK    KXIM.OKKF). 

lets  1111(1  ejiriinj^s  of  gold.  Piiit.  of  tlio  fompany  were 
desirous  of  going  tliitiier  at  once,  l)Ut  the  rest  wished  to 
return  into  New  IJisciiy  in  order  to  give  an  aeeouiit  of 
all  they  had  seen  and  heard.  So  only  the  leader  with  a 
few  men  went  forward,  meeting  everywhere  good  treat- 
ment from  the  natives,  who  in  one  plaee,  we  are  told. 


OUUAN    MOUNTAINS. 


showered  down  meal  before  the  Spaniards,  for  their 
horses  to  tread  u[)on,  feasting  and  caressing  their  strange 
visitors  as  long  as  they  remained  among  them. 

These  explorers  returned  to  Old  Mexico  in  July. 
168ti,  by  the  valley  of  the  Pecos,^^  to  which  stream  they 
gtave  the  name  of  River  of  Oxen,  because  they  saw 
great  lierds  of  bison  ^*  feeding  all  along  its  course. 


IK 


Out 

attempt 

iiig  ])ru 

<hmte  ^'' 

iiiciint    1 

It.     Onji 

i'liese    k! 

<>rande, 

the  villaj 

iards,   w^ 

more  tha 

Apaches 

iieretlitar 

l<i'pt  up 

WitJi  < 

inissioiiar 

establislR' 

In  i(;oi 

III  thirty 
as  iiiiiny 
ti<»n  to  n 
A'ew  M 
prosperity 
tlie  count 
'"^j'aniard.^ 
too  deep, 

hoii(|;i<»e 

'»oie  its  U!^ 
loiiovr,   in 
'"'dy,  and 
^'••»'at  slant 
fugitives  I 


now    NKW    MEXICO   CAMK   TO    BK    KXI»LORKD. 


37 


Out  oi'  these  diseoveiics  and  reports  came  new 
attempts  to  plant  a  eolony  on  the  Hio  (iiande.  Notli- 
iii*(  prospered,  however,  until  loU8.  when  Juan  de 
nfiate  ^'''  invaded  New  Mexico  at  the  head  of  a  force 
iiH'iint  to  thoroughly  subdue  and  permanently  hold 
it.  Onate  was  named  governor  un<ler  the  viceroy. 
Tliese  Spaniards  established  themselves  on  the  Rio 
(ininde,  not  far  from  where  Santa  Fe  now  is.  Most  of 
tiie  village  Indians  submitted  themselves  to  the  Span- 
iards, whose  authority  over  them  was,  at  best,  little 
more  than  nominal,  though  the  roving  tribes,  the  fierce 
Apaches  and  warlike  Navajoes,  never  forgot  their 
hereditary  hatred  to  the  Spaniards,  with  whom  they 
kept  u})  an  incessant  warfare. 

With  this  expedition  came  a  number  of  Franciscan 
missionaries  who,  as  soon  as  a  town  was  gained  over, 
cstiihlished  a  mission  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives. 
Ill  1()01  Santa  F6  was  founded  and  made  the  cajjital. 
In  tliirty  years  more  the  Catholic  clergy  had  established 
as  many  as  lifty  missions  which  gave  religious  instruc- 
tion to  ninety  towns  and  villages. 

New  Mexico  had  now  reached  her  period  of  greatest 
{irosperity  under  Spanish  rule.  For  lifty  years  m;)re 
the  country  rather  stood  still  than  made  progress.  The 
Spaniards  were  too  overbearing,  and  the  old  hostility 
too  deep,  for  peace  to  endure.  Then,  the  system  of 
bondage  which  the  Spaniards  brought  with  them  from 
Old  Mexico,  and  most  unwisely  put  in  practice  here, 
liore  its  usual  bitter  fruit.  Detennined  to  be  slaves  no 
longer,  in  1680  the  native  New  Mexicans  rose  in  a 
hody,  and  drove  the  invaders  out  of  the  country  with 
great  slaughter.  Upon  the  frontier  of  Old  Mexic«»  the 
fugitives  halted,  and   then  founded  El  Paso  del  Norte, 


£ 


38 


MOW    NKW    MKXK.'O   CAMK   TO    HK    KXTLOIUOD. 


wliicli  tlicy  considered  tlic  j^atcway  to  New  Mexico,  and 
so  named  it.  It  took  tlie  S[);miai(ls  twelve  years  to 
recover  from  tliis  blow.  IJy  tliat  time  little  was  left 
to  show  they  l»ad  ever  been  masters  of  New  Mexico. 
lUit  a  new  invasion  took  phice,  concerning  which  few 
details  remain,  though  we  do  know  it  resulted  in  a 
permanent  conquest  before  tlie  end  of  the  century. 


•v  - 


-■r-  .-^ 


BL    PASd    DEL    NOIITK. 


As  far  back  as  ^  "^7  Father  Kino  had  founded  a  mis- 
sion on  the  skiv'  j  country  lying  round  the  head  of 
tlie  Gulf  of  »»un,  to  which  the  Spaniards  gave  tln^ 
name  of  Pin.  la.^*^  It  will  be  noticed  that  once  again 
they  were  following  up  the  traces  of  Father  Marco  and 
Coronado.  When  the  Spaniards  took  courage  after  this 
defeat,  and  again  entered  New  Mexico,  Kino  (1003) 
founded  other  missions  in  the  Gila  country  which  in 
time  grew  to  be  connecting  links  between  New  Mexicu 
and  Galifornia,  in  what  is  now  Arizona.^' 


ii(»\v  m:\v  mkxico  oami:  to  ijk  kxi'Loijed.     89 


'  llv  l.Asn  AM»  Ska.  Ah  rivaU, 
liiitli  <'i>rU'/  aiitl  .Mfii(li>/ii  r>tr<)vi-  tn  Ik' 
luforfhaiiil  Willi  each  (itlicr.  <'<(rtfz 
il(')>|>ati-lu-<l  ril»a  from  Acapuk-o,  iiiiith- 
waril.  •'illy,  l.V'.'.t.  Alan-uii,  Kailiiii<  by 
Mi'ri.l<i/.a'H  order  in  l'>4*i,  vik-h  to  tlio 
hiail  of  the  Uiilf  of  Cullfoniia,  ami  t«o 
t'liiil-  tin-  Colonulo  RIvtT,  while  a  land 
fiirii'.  umliT  Coronado,  niarchi'd  north 
Id  :i(I  in  fomtTt  with  Alarroii. 

»  Siuviv<»ns  OF  Nauvakz'  Kxpk 

IlITION     (KloUIDA,     IVJS).       Till-     cllil'f 

aiiioiii;  thfHC  wn«  Alviir  Niifu'z,  Home- 
timt"  calli'd  Caho^a  tlo  \'aca  (litoially 
row's  head),  who  had  been  treasurer  to 
the  t  xi'idilioii  of  Xarvaez. 

:>  <'iiioi.A.  The  Ziii'ii  country  of  our 
own  day.  Siippostnl  to  bo  di'i  ivctl  I'roiii 
Ciliolo,  the  Me.xicaii  bull,  and  therefore 
applu'd  to  the  country  of  the  bison. 
I'llmla  is  on  Hii  Kniflisli  map  of  I*ij'j  in 
my  p<)sscs>ioii.  Zui'ii  is  thirty  inileri 
wiuth  of  Foit  Wini;ato. 

*  Took  ItAKEFUOTED  Friak  was 
Marco  de  Xlza  (Mark  of  Nice),  a  friar 
of  the  Franciscan  order.  For  a  lonir 
linir  liis  story  was  doubted.  It  is,  in 
fait,  an  exasjiteratcd  account  of  what  \«, 
cicaily.  a  true  occurrence. 

5   VASylEZ     I>E     (.\)I{0NA1)0.        (ScC 

note  I.) 

«  CoLoRAno  (Color  ah'-doo)    Span 
ish,  nifaniiii;  ruddy  or  nil.     First  csillud 
7: -.nil,  moanint;  a  lirebrand. 

'  UiLA,  pronounced  Ilec'la 


"  Ki<*  l>itANi)K   iiKi.  NoitTK,  Span 
ixh,  (treat  Uixeriif  the  North,     rhiially 
called,  cimply,  Uio  (iiande. 

»  New  Uis(  ay.  NorlherniuoHt  prov- 
luce  tif  Mexico,  capital  Chihuahua 
(Shce'wah'wah). 

'"  Uy  Christians.  <  'abe^a  do  Vaca 
and  his  companions. 

"  AfoMA,  one  of  the  hcvcii  <'itieM  of 
Cibola:  forty  live  luilei*  Hoiilh  of  old 
Foit  Win  gate. 

"  hir  .TioN.  Without  it,  it  would 
hardly  be  jiOHsiblo  to  raise  cropa  iu  New 
Mexico  to-day. 

"  Vai.i.ey  of  I'Ecos.  Ea«t  of,  and 
parallel  with  that  of  the  Uio  Urande. 

'*  Ui.sov.  Cabe<;a  de  N'aca  is  the  llrnt 
to  inontinn  tliis  animal.  One  is  said  to 
have  been  kept  as  a  show  in  Montezuma  ii 
tiarden,  where  the  S|>aniaids  saw  it  for 
the  first  time.     See  note  o. 

">  Ji'AN  DE  ONatk.  IIopele»«8  Con- 
fusion exists  coucerniiit;  the  proi>cr  date 
<  f  this  invasion. 

""'  Tim  Kill  A  esflcntially  corresiKinds 
with  Arizona.  It  look  this  name  from 
the  I'imos  Indians  of  thefiulf. 

'•  Arizona,  or  Arizuma,  a  name 
piven  by  the  Spaniards  to  denote  the 
mineral  wealth  uf  I'imeria,  where  silver 
and  gold  were  said  to  exist  in  virgin 
masHes.  Silver  ores  were,  in  fact,  «lis 
covered  by  the  Spaniards  at  an  early 
day.  Originally  part  of  Senoru  (So- 
Qora),  Old  Mexico. 


li 


"THE   MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY." 

"Antiquity  here  Hues,  speaks,  and  cries  out  to  the  traveller,  Sta,  viator.'  — 
r.  //'/(/'),  T/ie  Ji/iine. 


Mkntion  has  been  made  of  tlie  towns  wliicli  the 
i^paiiiards  came  to  in  tlie  course  of  their  inarcliinjjjs  up 
and  down  the  conntry.  Men  liad  tohl  tliein,  in  all 
si'lieiness,  that  far  away  in  the  north-west  seven  tlour- 


40 


U  rp 


Till-:    MAIIVELLOUS   COUNTRY. 


ishiii^-  (•incs,^  wniidioiis  great  and  rich,  lay  Ind  among 
till'  mountains.  We  rcmiMnijer  tiiat  tiieir  iirst  uxpiMli- 
tiuns  Avert*  planned  to  reach  these  seven  cities.  Now, 
when,  at  last,  the  Spaniards  did  come  to  them,  these 
wonderCid  cities  jiroved  to  be  large,  but  not  rich,  lull 
of  peo[tle,  though  by  no  means  such  us  the  white  men 
expected  to  see  there. 

Though  sorely  vexed  to  think  they  had  come  so  fur 
to  lind  so  little,  the  Span!  .ds  v/ere  very  much  aston- 
ishe<l  by  the  appearance  of  these  cities,  the  like  of 
which  they  had  never  seen  before.  So  these  cities  hid 
jiwav  umonir  desert  mountains  were  long  remembered 
and  often  talked  about. 

l>ut  these  cities  were  not  cities  at  all,  as  the  term  is 
now  understood.  Instead  of  many  houses  s[>rea<l  out 
over  much  ground,  the  builders  [dainly  aimed  at  putting; 
a  great  many  [>eople  into  a  little  space.  Yet  the  cities 
they  built  were  neither  sim[)ly  walled  towns,  nor  simply 
f«>rtresses,  but  a  skilful  cond)ination  of  both. 

In  the  ojien  plain  they  conunonly  consisted  of  one 
great  structure  either  enclosed  by  a  high  wall,  or  else 
so  built  round  it  that  wali  and  building  were  one. 

( )n  the  other  hand,  if  the  i)Ueblo  -  stood  upon  a  height. 
the  houses  would  be  built  all  in  bloidvs,  and  have  streets 
running  through  them,  though  in  other  respects  tin 
manner  of  building  was  evervwhere  the  same. 

In  either  case,  this  stvlo  of  architecture  made  tluiii 
look  less  like  the  pi'aceful  abodes  of  i)eaceful  nion. 
than  the  strongholds  of  a  warlike  and  predatory  racr. 
whence  the  inmates  might  sally  forth  upon  their  weaker 
neighbors,  just  as  the  lords  of  feudal  tiujcs  did  froii) 
the  ro(d\ -built  castles  of  the  Ivliine.  It  is  plain  tin) 
had  grown  ujt  (»ut  of  the  net^essity  for  defence,  as  even 


"THE    MAHVELLOrS    COITNTUY. 


41 


tliiiiiL;"  else  was  saciificcd  to  its  dcinjinds,  and  wo  know 
lliiit  necessity  is  tlie  luotlicr  ol"  invention. 

The  single  great  house,  in  which  all  (he  iidiahitants 
li' ed  together,  is  perhaps  the  most  curious.  Let  us 
siippost  tins  to  be  a  three-story  building,  parted  otV  into 
I'kimi  sixty  to  a  hunch-ed  little  rooms,  with  something 


A   I'LKULO   UESTOllEU. 


likr  a  tliousand  people  living  in  it.  Could  the  outer 
Willi  be  taktiu  away,  the  whole  ediliee  would  look  like  a 
iiiniistrous  honeycond),  and  in  I'act  the  pueblo  was  noth- 
iiiLT  ^'Ise  than  a  hinnan  hive,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

N<tw  the  city  of  Acoma  is  (»ne  of  those  which  ar(» 
hiiilt  upon  a  lie^'Jit.  The  builders  chose  the  Hat  top 
<>t  a  bari'en  samlstone  dilf,  «-ontaining  about  ten  ai-res, 


42 


"THE   MAllVELLOUS    COUNTRY. 


wliich  rises  ahmit  tliroc  hundred  feet  above  tlu!  pljiiu. 
In  New  Mexico  sucli  tal)le-lands  are  called  7>ic\s<is^  from 
mcaa^  tlie  Spanish  word  nieanin<;  tahle.  Therefore, 
wdiile  no  one  knows  its  age,  or  liistoiy,  all  agree  that 
Aeonia  must  go  far  l>a(d\  into  the  past.  Acoma  was  so 
strongly  built  that  to-day  it  looks  hardly  different  from 
what  it  did  when  the  Spaniards  first  saw  it,  jjerched  on 
the  top  of  its  rock,  'n  15H2. 

We  see  then  in  tli*.  builders  of  Aconia  a  people  gifted 
w^ith  a  much  higher  order  of  intelligence  than  the  lied 
Indian,  who  is  always  found  living  in  huts,  or  hovels, 
of  the  rudest  possible  kind.  The  wild  Indian  always 
carries  his  house  about  with  him,  and  si>  is  ever  ready, 
at  a  moment's  notice,  to 

"Fold  Ills  tont,  like  th«'  Arabs, 
And  as  siU'iitly  steal  away.'' 

The  sedentary  Indian  sometimes  pattenr^Ml  his  after  tlic 
burrowing  animals,  like  tlie  beaver,  and  sometimes  after 
the  birds  of  the  air,  like  the  sparrow. 

Now  to  describe  Acoma  itself.  It  consists  of  ranges 
of  massive  buildings  rising  in  successive  tiers  from  the 
ground.  The  second  story  is  set  a  little  back  from 
the  first,  and  the  third  a  little  back  from  the  second,  sn 
leaving  a  space  in  front  of  each  range  of  buildings  ftn 
the  inhabitants  or  sentinels  to  walk  about  in,  in  peace- 
ful times,  or  send  down  missiles  u[)on  the  heads  of  their 
enemies  in  time  of  war.  I>y  running  up  the  outer  wall 
of  eacdi  story,  for  a  few  feet  higher  than  this  platform, 
the  builders  made  what  is  called  a  parapet  in  militaiy 
phrase,  meant  for  the  protection  of  the  defenders.  There 
were  no  doors  or  windows  except  in  tlie  topmost  tier. 
Acoma,  tiien,  was  a  castle  built  upon  a  rock. 


It    WdUl 

tilings  (;ui 
there  was 
to  enter  tl 
set  ngainsi 
pese.  In 
Innii,  then 


l    eaiiie  to  tli 
door  into 

Tlie  wh( 
I'iirtition  w 

"1'  ^eventv 
In-day.  T 
hricks  driei 
"•'•iihi  not  1 
••ny  missile 
^\^'  see  t 
''iieiiiics  w 


"THE   MAltVlOLLOrS    COUNTKY. 


43 


It  would  seem  that  only  binls  ol"  the  air  or  croopiiig 
tliiii^^'s  (toiikl  gain  admittance  to  sncii  a  place.  Indeed, 
tlicic  was  no  other  way  for  the  inhahitants  themselves 
1(1  enter  their  dwellings  excejit  by  elimbing  u\)  ladders 
set  against  the  outer  walls  of  the  Iniilding  for  the  pur- 
pcsc.  In  this  manner  one  C(tuld  elimh  to  the  lirst  jilat- 
lunii,  then  to  tlie  second,  but  c(tuld  not  get  in  till  h«' 


ACOMA. 


caiHc  to  the  roof,  throiigli  which  he  descended  by  a  trap 
(luor  into  his  own  (pnuters. 

The  whole  collection  of  l)uildings  being  divided  by 
liiutition  walls  into  several  blocks,  each  containing  sixty 
or  seventy  houses,  is,  i)ractically,  the  apartment  hotel  of 
tinhiy.  The  material  connnonly  used  was  adobe,"*  or 
hiicks  dried  and  hardenetl  in  the  sun.  Such  a  building 
could  not  be  set  on  fire  or  its  walls  battcu-ed  down  with 
any  niissil(\s  known  to  its  time. 
Wc  see  then  tliat  the  Pueblo  Iiulians  must  have  had 
f  vii(;iiiies  wiiom   they   feared,  —  enemies  at  on(;e  aggres- 


44 


"THE    MAIIVKLLOUS   COUNTltV. 


sive,  wiirliko,  and  jji-obably  iiiiicli  more  liuiiierous  tliaii  I 
themselves.     How  well  they  were  able  to  meet   these  bj 
conditions,  their  houses  show  us  to  this  day. 

Living  remote  from  the  whites,  these  people,  like 
those  of  Old  Zuni,  have  kept  more  of  their  primitive 
manners,  and  live  more  as  their  fathers  did,  than  those 
do  who  inhabit  the  pueblos  of  the  Kio  Gi'ande,  where 
they   have    been    longer   in    contact   with    Europeans, 


CASA  UUANUE,  UILA  VALLLY. 


Forty  years  ago  they  knew  only  a  few  Spanish  words. 
which  they  had  learned  when  Spaniards  held  tlicii 
country.  In  a  remarkable  manner,  the  people  havi 
kept  their  own  tongue  and  nationality  free  from  foreitiii 
taint.  From  this  fact  we  are  led  to  think  them  miuli 
the  same  people  tliat  they  were  long,  long  ago. 

There  are  other  buildings  in  the  country  of  the  Gila. 
called  Cai<aii  Granden^  or  Great  Houses,  which  an 
([uite  difterent  from  those  described  in  this  chapter,  l»iii 
were  ai)[>arently  built  for  a  similar  [)uri)ose  of  defence. 


"THE    MARVELLOUS   COUNTllY. 


45 


'  Seven    ('ities.      See     procciliiii; 

v\\:i\>U'r. 

2  I'lEKUi,  Hpanish  for  town  or  vil- 
hiU'i'. 

■  Adohk,  Spaiiirili.  The  Hiiiue  mate- 
rial if  miicli  UHC'tl  throughout  New 
Mcxiio,  Arizona,  California,  Utah,  aiul 
Cdliirado. 

*  Casas  (iiiANDEs,  or  Casus  Moii 
ti'zuniaH.      Lieut.  Emory,  U.i^.A.,  thuH 


(IcHcrihes  one  w'eii  on  titc  Olla  .  "  A1)out 
the  noon  halt  u  lar^e  liuildini;  was  seen 
on  tlie  left.  It  was  the  remains  of  a 
three-story  mud  liouse,  sixty  feet  scjuare, 
and  pierced  for  doors  and  windows. 
Tlie  walls  were  four  feet  thiek.  Tlie 
whole  interior  of  the  huildiii)^  had  heen 
burned  out  anil  much  defaced."  Caxa 
Grande  is  on  a  map  of  1720;  is  on  llie 
Ciila. 


FOLK    LORE   OF  THE   PUEBLOS. 

While  professing  Cliiistianity,  tlie  Pueblo  Jiidiiiiis 
have  mostly  kept  some  part  of  the  idolatrous  Taith  of 
tlu'ir  fatliers.  Thus  the  two  have  become  curiously 
l>leii(k'(l  in  their  worship.  We  often  see  the  crucifix, 
or  [lictures  of  the  Virgin  hanghig  on  the  walls  of  their 
(IwL'lliiigs,  but  neither  the  coming  of  the  whites,  nor 
the  zeal  of  missionaries  coukl  wdiolly  eradicate  the 
deeply  grounded  foundations  of  their  ancient  religion. 
The  little  we  know  about  this  belief,  in  its  purity, 
comes  to  us  chielly  in  the  form  of  Icgenthiry  lore, 
although  since  the  Zuui  have  been  studied  ^  with  this 
((hjeet  we  have  a  much  clearer  conception  of  it  tlian 
lever  before. 

By  this  uncertain  light  we  find  it  to  be  a  religion 
of  symbols  and  mysteries,  jn-imarily  founded  upon  the 
wondrous  workings  of  nature  for  man's  needs,  and  so 
emhodying  a  philosophy  growing  out  of  her  varied 
plieiioinena.  Therefore  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  earth, 
sky,  and  sea,  and  all  plants,  animals,  and  men  were  sup- 
Iposed  to  bear  a  certain  mvstical  relation  to  each  other 
jni  the  plan  of  the  universe.  Instead  of  one  all-supreme 
iheing,  the  Zuni  worshii)]ted  many  gods  each  of  whom 


46 


FOLK    UniK   OF    THE    riJFlJI.O.S. 


was  siipi»(i.s(Ml  to  2M)ssess  some  special  altrihiite  or  power. 
Suinu  wi'io  liiglicr,  some  lower  down  iti  llie  seale  (»t" 
power. 

The  phenomena  of  nature,  lieiii!:^  more  mysterious, 
were  thought  to  be  more  closely  rehited  to  the  highci 
gods.  If  there  was  drought  in  the  land,  the  priests 
prayed  for  rain  from  the  housetops,  as  the  Proplie^ 
Elijah  did  in  the  wilderness.  Each  year,  in  the  moutli 
of  June,  they  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  highest  moun- 
tain, which  they  called  the  "  INIother  of  Kain,"  to  per- 
form some  secret  ceremony  touching  the  coming  harvest. 
And  because  rain  seldom  falls  in  this  country,  thev 
nuide  earnest  supplication  to  water,  as  a  beneficent 
spirit,  who  ascended  and  descended  the  heavens  in  thcii 
sight,  and  to  the  sun  as  the  twin  deity  in  whom  lay  tla' 
power  of  life  and  death,  —  to  ripen  the  harvest  or  witliur 
all  living  things  away  into  dust. 

Like  the  ancient  Egyptians,  of  whom  they  constantly 
remind  us,  the  Zuni  believed  animals  possessed  certiiiii 
mystic  powers,  not  belonging  to  num,  so  investing  tliciu 
with  a  sacred  character.  Beasts  of  prey  were  supposed 
to  have  magic  [)ower  over  other  animals,  hence  the  bear 
stood  higher  in  the  Zuni  mythology  than  the  deer  or 
antelope.  The  Indians  call  this  magic  power  medicine. 
but  the  Zuiii  gave  it  form  to  his  own  mind  —  the  sub- 
stance of  a  thing  unseen  —  by  making  a  stone  iiuage  of 
tlie  particular  animal  he  had  chosen  for  his  medicine, 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  war  or  the  chase  as  a 
charm  of  highest  virtue.     We  call  this  fetich-worshi}). 

Each  pueblo  had  one  or  more  close,  undergr(»uiiil 
cells  2  in  which  certain  mysterious  rites,  connected,  it 
is  believed,  with  the  worship  of  the  people,  were  solem- 
uized.     We  are  told  that,  at  Pecos,  the  priests  kept 


FOLK    LOllK  OF   THE    I'lKHLoS. 


47 


walc'li  ni[»lit  and  day  over  a  sacred  fire,  wlneli  was  never 
suricred  to  go  oiif.  for  a  single  moment,  for  fear  some 
calamity  would  instantly  happen  to  the  tribe.  It  is 
also  said  that  when  Peeos  was  assaulted  and  sacked  by 
a  hostile  tribe,  the  priests  ke[)t  their  charge  over  the 
sacred    lire    while    the    tumult    of   battle    raged    aljout 


IIUINS   OF   I'ECOS. 


tlit'iii.     And  when,  at  length,  the  tribe  itself  had  nearly 
ilii'd  out,  the  survivors  took  the  sacred  fire  with  them 
n  another  people,  beyond  the  mountains,  where  it  is 
ki'pt  burning  as  the  symbol  of  an  ever-living  faith. 

Another  legend  goes  on  to  say  that  an  enormous  ser- 
pent was  kept  in  a  den  in  the  temple  of  Pecos  to  which 
on  certain  occasions  living  men  were  thrown  as  a  sacri- 
fice. Both  legends  would  seem  to  point  to  Pecos  as  a 
holy  place,  from  which  the  priests  gave  out  instruction 


48 


FOLK    LOIIK    OF     riM':    ITKHLOS. 


to  tlu'  j)(M)j)le,  as  of  old   llicy  did  from  the  t('iii[»l('S  ol 
the  heatlicii  gcxls. 

The  tradition  of  the  orijjfiii  of  the  Znui,  as  tohl  hy 
Mr.  Cusliing,  is  almost  identical  with  that  lield  hy  the 
Mandans  of  the  l'])per  Missouri.  Each  says  the  raec 
sprung  from  the  earth  itself,  fn*  rather  that  the  first 
peoples  lived  in  darkness  and  misery  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  until  ut  lenj^th  they  were  led  forth  into  the 
licjht  of  (hiy  by  two  spirits  sent  from  heaven  for  their 
deliveranee,  as  the  Zuni  say,  or  l)y  diseovcring  a  way 
out  for  themselves,  as  the  ISIandans  say.^ 

A  traditit)n  of  the  Pimos'*  Indians  makes  a  beautiful 
goddess  the  founder  of  their  race.  It  says  that  in  times 
lonjjf  past  a  woman  of  matchless  beauty  resided  amonii; 
the  mountains  near  this  place.  All  the  men  admired 
and  i)aid  court  to  her.  She  received  the  tributes  of 
their  devotion,  grain,  skins,  etc.,  but  gave  no  favors  in 
return.  Her  virtue  and  her  determination  to  remain 
secluded  were  ecpially  firm.  There  came  a  drought 
which  threatened  the  world  with  famine.  In  their  dis- 
tress the  people  applied  to  her,  and  she  gave  tliem  corn 
from  her  stock,  and  the  sui)ply  seemed  endless.  Her 
goodness  was  unbounded.  One  day  as  she  was  lyin^f 
asleep  a  drop  of  rain  fell  u[>on  her  and  produced  con- 
ception. A  son  was  the  issue,  who  was  the  founder  of 
the  race  that  built  these  structures. 

Hut  ]Montezuma^  is  the  jtatriareh,  or  tutelary  genius, 
whom  all  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico  look  to  as  tluir 
coming  deliverer. 

One  tradition  runs  that  Montezuma  was  a  poor  she})- 
herd  who  tended  shec])  in  the  mountains.  One  day  an 
eagle  came  to  keep  him  (u)mi)aiiy.  After  a  time  the 
eagle  would  run    before    Montezuma,  and   extend   its 


FOLK    LORE   OF   THE   PrKHLOR. 


40 


1)- 
n 

lie 
Its 


wiiiLis,  as  if  iiivitiiifj  liiin  to  seat  liiinsclf  on  its  back. 
Wlii'ii  at  last  Monte/.iiiua  did  s(t,  tiie  caiilc  iiistantlv 
s|iiiad  its  wings  and  flew  away  with  liiin  to  Mexico 
wlii'ie  Montezuma  founded  a  great  people. 

Kver  since  tlien  the  Indians  liave  constantly  watched 
lor  the  second  coming  of  M»)ntezunia,  and  thenceiuith 
tlu!  caijle  was  held  sa- 
•/n  il,  and  has  l)ec(une  a 
s\  iiihol  among  tliem.  He 
is  to  come,  they  say,  in 
the  iiKtrning,  at  sunrise, 
so  iit  that  hour  people 
ni;iy  l>e  seen  on  the 
housetops  looking  ear- 
nestly toward  the  east, 
while  chanting  their 
morning  praters,  for  like 
the  followers  of  Maho- 
niL't,  these  people  chant 
hymns  upon  the  house- 
tops. Alth<mgli  beauti- 
ful and  melodious  these  n4,pM 
chants  are  described  as  f'v, 
hciiig  inexpressibly  sad 
1111(1  mournful. 

Ill  person  the  people 
are  well  formed  and 
iioblc  looking.  Tliey  are  honest  among  themselves, 
liiispitahle  to  strangers,  and  unlike  nomads,  are  wholly 
•h'Votcd  to  caring  for  their  crops  and  Hocks.  They  own 
iiiimy  sheep.  They  raise  corn,  wheat,  barley  and  fruit. 
<>ii('  pueblo  raises  corn  and  fruit,  another  is  noted  for  its 
lutttcry,  while  a  third  is  known  for  its  skill  in  weaving. 


CEIlEUrS   GIUANTEA. 


50 


FOLIC   LORE  OF  THE   PUEHLOS. 


liut  after  all,  tlic^se  Piieljlo  Indians  arc  only  harbari- 
ans  of  a  little  hijjfher  typc^  than  connnon.  Wliencvn- 
we  look  closely  into  their  habits  and  manners,  we  are 
struck  with  the  resemblances  existing  among  the  wludi.' 
family  of  native  tribes.  If  we  assume  them  to  liave 
known  a  higher  civilization  they  have  degenerated.     If 

we  do  not  so  assume,  the 
observation  of  three  cen- 
turies shows  them  to  liave 
come  to  a  standstill  long, 
long  ago. 

Pueblo     Customs. 

When    the    harvest    time 
comes  the  people  abandon 
their  villages  in   order  to 
go  and  live   among   their 
fields,  the  better  to  wateli 
over  them  while   the  har- 
vest is  being  gathered  in. 
Grain    is  threshed  by  first  spreading  it  out  upon  a 
dirt  floor  made  as  hard  as  possible,  and  then   letting 
horses  tread  it  out  with  their  hoofs.     It  is  then  win- 
nowed in  the  wind. 

The  woman,  who  is  grinding,  kneels  down  before  ii 
trough  with  her  stone  placed  before  her  in  the  mannei 
«)f  a  laundress's  wash-board.  Over  this  stone  she  ruW 
another  as  if  scrubbing  clothes.  The  primitive  corn- 
mill  is  simply  a  large  concave  stone  into  which  anotkr 
stone  is  made  to  fit,  so  as  to  crush  the  grain  by  i)ressurt 
of  the  hand. 

The  unfermented  dough  is  rolled  out  thin  so  that 
after  baking  it  may  be  put  up  in  rolls,  like  paper,    k 


IM'EBLO  ll>OL?>. 


FOLK    LORE   OF   THE   PIEHLOS. 


61 


i^  ilit'ii  the  color  of  a  lionict's  nest,  whicli  imlct'd  it  re- 
s('iiil>lt*s.  Ovens,  for  hakinjjf,  aiv  kept  on  the  liousetoj)S. 
Tlie  processes  of  spinninjjf  and  weaving,  than  which 
iintliiiii^  couhl  be  more  i)riniitive,  are  thus  described  by 
bitiit.  Emory,  as  he  saw  it  done  on  tlie  Gihi,  in  1846. 

"A  woman  was  seaU'd  on  the  ground  under  one  of  the  cotton 
.slicils.  llcr  left  leg  was  turned  under  with  the  sole  of  the  fiM)t 
iijiward.  Ik'twecMi  her  great  toe  and  the  next  a  spindle,  alK>ut 
tit;lit<'en  inclies  long,  with  a  single  tly,  was  put.  Ever  atid  anon 
>\\v  uavo  it  a  dexterous  twist,  and  at  its  end  a  coarse  cott^ju  thread 
\v(»iiM  l>e  drawn  out.  This  was  their  spinning  machine.  Led  on 
by  this  primitive  display,  I  asked  for  their  loom,  {>ointing  lirst  to 
tlie  thread,  and  then  to  the  blanket  girded  about  the  woman's 
loins.  \  fellow  who  was  stretched  out  in  the  dust,  sunning  him- 
.<iY,  rose  lazily  up,  and  untied  a  bundle  which  I  had  supjwsed  to 
be  his  bow  and  arrows.  This  little  p.ackage,  with  four  stakes  in 
tlif  ground,  was  the  loom.  He  stretched  his  cloth  and  began  the 
process  of  weaving." 

lint  these  self-taught  weavers  were  behind  their 
brethren  of  the  pueblos,  whose  loom  was  of  a  more 
improved  pattern.  One 
end  of  the  frame  of  sticks, 
(111  which  the  warp  was 
stretched,  would  be  fast- 
ened to  the  tloor,  and  the 
other  to  a  rafter  overhead. 
The  weaver  sat  before  this 
iVanu',  rapidly  moving  the 
shuttle  in  her  hand  to  and 
tn>,  and  so  forming  the 
Woof. 

Pottery   was    in    com- 
mon use  among  them  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  ac- 
Luunt  uf  the  Pueblo   Indians.     Jars  for  carrying  and 


lilEllOGLYrillCS,   (ilLA  VALLEY, 


52 


FOLK    \AnU-:   OF   TIIK    ITKBLOS 


linl(liii»r  water  were  always  articU's  ol'  juimn  nccessih. 
tliouj^li  baskets  (if  wi(kt'i-w»)i'k  were  soiuetinies  W(»veii 
watei'-tiglit  lor  the  purpose. 


PlTKHLO  GovKKXMKNT.  Eaeli  piieblo  is  under  the 
eoulrol  of  a  head  ehief,  chosen  from  among  the  i)eoplt' 
themselves.  When  any  jjublie  business  is  to  be  trans- 
acted, he  collects  the  princij)al  chiefs  in  the  und(  r- 
jifround  cell,  previously  mentioned,  where  the  matter 
that  has  brought  them  togetln'r  is  disctussed  and  settled. 

The  2)Ueblos  also  have  ollicers,  corresponding  with 
the  mayor  and  constables*^  of  a  city,  Avhose  business  it 
is  to  i)reserve  (►rder.  In  every  pueblo  there  is  also  a 
public  crier  who  shouts  from  the  housetv^  -•J.'i^'' 

as  it  may  concern  the  people  at  large  to  know. 

In  some  of  the  pueblos  there  is  an  abandoned  Sjiaii- 
ish  mission  church  of  unknown  anticpiity.  The  one  at 
Acoma  has  a  towx'r  forty  feet  high  with  two  bells  in  it. 
one  of  which  is  lettered  'SSan  Pedro,  A.D.  1710."  'Jlic 
church  at  Pecos  is  a  pictures(|ue  ruin. 


'   ZliJi    HAVE    BEEN  STTTDIED  by  Mr. 

F.  n.  ('iishiiit;,  who  joined  the  tribe  for 
the  purpose. 

-  Underoround  Cells,  Spanii«h 
Estii/as,  were  circular,  witliout  doorx  or 
windowrt,  anil  had  u  liind  of  Htone  table, 
or  altar,  in  them.  One  at  Taos  wan  nur- 
rounded  with  a  Htockade,  and  entered 
through  a  trap-door. 

»  The  Mandans  sat  that  the  rootn 
of  a  grape-vine,  having  penetrated  into 
their  dark  abode,  revealed  to  them  the 
liitht  of  the  upper  world.  Hy  mean^  i>f 
this  vine,  lialf   tlie  tribe  uliiubed  tu  the 


Burface.  Owing  to  the  weight  of  an 
old  w»)nmn  the  vine  broke,  leavini;  tlif 
rent  entombi-d  as  before. 

*  TuE  IMmos  live  along  tlie  (iila. 
having  moved  up  from  the  (Julf  ('mi^! 
williin  fifty  yearn.  'I'hey  are  a  pantonil 
and  agricultural  people. 

0  Montezuma  of  the  trnditioim  i' 
not  the  Montezuma  of  Sparunh-coiKiiicxi 
celebrity. 

«  Mayor  and  Constable.  The 
liret  in  called  an  al'cal'de,  the  necoiid  a" 
al'gi>it'''il. 


LAST   L»MS   Ob    CHAltLES    V.    AND    I'lllLll'    U.       53 


LAST  DAYS  OF  CHARLES  V.   AND   PHILIP   M. 

VVk  have  lifie  reaciinl  \\iv  liigli-Wiiter-iiunk  «»t'  Sjuiii- 
isli  lulvaiice  into  tenitoiy  now  t'lnbiaced  witliiu  the 
riiited  States.  Tlie  numient  seems  well  eiiosen  in 
wliieh  to  take  a  partiiij^  look  at  the  two  great  men  of 
tlu'ir  age,  whose  talents  and  energy  had  hnilded  aii 
I'lnpire  so  vast  that,  when  the  master-hand  was  taken 
;i\\ay,  it  tottered  to  its  fall. 

Last  Days  of  Chaijles  V.  Charles  V.  is  thought 
t(t  have  hastened  his  death  by  the  indulgenee  of  so 
str:«iHr»'  •>  whii",  that  one  is  led  to  doubt  the  souncbiess 

01     Ills     .  ,^l;. 

lie  ehose,  now  in  his  lifetime,  to  have  his  own  finieral 
olisiMjuies  performed.  For  the  purpose  he  laid  himself 
(low  M  in  his  eotHn  whieh  the  monks  then  lifted  on  their 
sli(»iilders  and  bore  into  the  church.  When  the  bearere 
li;ul  set  the  eollin  down  in  front  of  the  altar,  the  solemn 
service  for  the  dead  was  chanted,  the  Emperor  himself 
jdiniiig  in  all  the  prayers  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul. 
In  the  hush  which  followed  the  last  office  paid  to  the 
ilhistrious  dead,  all  the  attending  monks  passed  silently 
i)ut  of  the  church,  leaving  Charles  to  pray  alone  in  his 
I'otlin. 

"The  chamber  in  the  Escurial  Palace  where  Phili]) 
II.  died  is  that  in  which  he  passed  the  three  last  yearj^i 
>f  his  life,  nailed  by  the  gout  to  a  sofa.  Through  a 
narrow  casement,  his  alcove  connnanded  a  view  of  the 
Iiigh  altar  of  the  chapel.  In  this  manner,  without 
lisiiig,  without  quitting  his  bed,  he  assisted  every  day 
iit  tlie  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  His  ministers  came 
tu  work  with  him  in  this  little  chamber,  and  they  still 


54 


LAST    DAYS   OF   CHAULKS    V.    AND    PHILIP    XL 


sliow  the  little  woikUmi  board  wliicli  tlie  king  iiuide  use 
of  when  writing,  or  signing  liis  name,  by  pl^eing  it 
ui)on  his  knees." 

Tombs  of  Ciiakles  and  Philip.  "At  the  right  and 
h'ft  of  tlie  altar,  at  the  height  of  about  fifteen  feet,  aiv 
two  large  parallel  nielies  hollowed  out  in  the  form  of  a 
square.  The  one  at  the  left  is  the  tomb  of  Charles  V., 
that  at  the  right  of  Philip  11.  At  the  side  of  Philip  II.. 
who  IS  on  his  knees  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  ave  the 
prince,  Don  Carlos,  and  the  two  queens  whom  Philiii 
successively  espoused,  all  three  also  on  their  knees  in 
prayer.     Underneath,  one  may  read  in  letters  of  gold  : 

PHILIP  II.,  KING  OF  all  THE  SPAINS, 
OF  SICILY,  AND  OF  JERUSALEM, 
REPOSES  IN  THIS  TOMB,  WHICH  HE 
BUILT  FOR   HIMSELF  WHILE   LIVING. 

"  The  EmpePvOU  Charles  V.  is  also  rei)resented  uu 
his  knees  in  the  act  of  prayer.  lie  too  is  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  kneeling  personages  who  are  identified  in 
the  inscription,  of  which  we  give  only  part. 

TO  CHARLES  V.,  KING  OF  THE  ROMANS, 

HIGH   AND    MIGHTY   EMPEROR,   KING   OF 

JERUSALEM,   ARCHDUKE   OF   AUSTRIA, 

HIS  SON    PHILIP. 

"All  those  statues  are  of  gilt  bronze,  of  a  gi'and  style 
and  admirable  effect.  Those  of  the  two  sovereigns, 
above  all,  with  their  armorial  mantles,  are  of  a  severe 
magnificence."  —  Alei:.  lynimu^  the  Elder, 


SWOUD   AND   (JOWN    IN   CALirOllNlA. 


56 


I 


SWORD  AND  GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 

('ALiFoKNlA  is  tlie  inline^  given  in  an  old  Spanish 
ndiiance  to  a  fabulous  island  of  the  sea  lying  out 
toward   the  Indies. 

Altera  time,  the  Span- 
iards found  out  that 
what  they  had  supposed 
to  he  a  large  island^  was 
hmIIv  a  peninsula,  so  the 
iiaiiu'  presently  spread 
to  tli(^  mainland. 

("ahrillo^  sailed  yet 
lii«,^li('r  u[),  and  others 
higiicr  still,  till  the  work 
of  tracing  the  coast  as 
far  as  Cape  Men(h)cino  * 
itself  was  completed. 

Spanish  power  in  the 
N(»w  World  received 
now  and  here  its  first 
st'rioiis  check,  though 
possihly  little  was 
thought  of  it  at  the 
time,  in  Kurope.  Like 
David  before  Gcdiath, 
Htth'  Kngland  confront- 
nl  tlie  bully  of  Europe 

where  least   expected,  with  menace  to  her   great   Jind 
•^Mowing  empire  of  the  West. 

riic  greatest  seaman  of  Ids  age,  Franuis  Drake,  whose 
iiaiu.'   was    the    terror    of  Spaniards   everywhere,   had 


(AI.IFOnNIA  COA^T. 


56 


SWOKl)   AND  GOWN    IN   CALIFORNIA. 


Itasst'd  tlu!  Straits  of  Magellan  witli  one  little  vessil, 
into  the  Great  South  Sea,  whieh  IJalhoa  diseovered  and 
claimed  tor  Spain.  Stopping  at  no  odds,  one  day  light- 
ing and  the  next  plundering,  Drake  kei)t  his  unchuuitcd 
way  a  thousand  leagues  up  the  coast.  His  ship  being 
already  I'ull-tVeighted  with  the  plunder  of  the  i)orts  at 
which  she  had  called,  Drake  thought  to  shorten  tin- 
way  back  to  England  by  sailing  through  the  North-east 
Passage,^  so  outwitting  the  Si»aniards  who  were  keeping 
vigilant  watch  against  his  return  southward,  —  for  his 
men  were  but  a  handful  against  a  world  of  foes,  and 
his  ship  too  precious  to  be  risked  in  fight.  So  Drake 
sailed  on  into  the  north.  lie  sailed  as  far  as  the  Ore- 
gon coast,  when  the  weather  grew  so  cold  that  his  men, 
who  were  come  from  tropic  heats,  began  to  nuuMnur. 
Drake  was  therefore  forced  to  put  his  ship  about  and 
steer  south  again,  along  the  coast,  looking  for  a  harbor 
as  he  went,  to  refit  his  ship  in.  Finding  this  harbor*^  in 
38°,  the  (Jolden  Hind  dropped  anchor  there  on  the  ITtli 
of  June,  1579,  showing  a  Hag  which  had  never  before 
been  seen  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Drake  lay  (piietly  at  anchor  in  this  port  for  five 
weeks.  During  all  this  time  the  natives  came  in  troojis 
to  the  shore,  drawn  thither  to  see  the  strange  bearded 
white  men  who  s[)oke  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and 
kept  the  loud  thunder  hid  away  in  their  ship.  It  is 
oven  said  that  the  king  of  that  country  took  the  crown 
off  his  own   bend,  and   put  it  on   Francis  Drake's  in 


tok( 


.f 


en  oi  suonnssion 


All  tl 


MS  and  mu( 


I 


di  el 


se  IS 


full) 


and  (luaintly  set  forth  in  the  mirrative  of  JMaster 
Fletcher,  who  Wiis  Drakes  cha[)hiiii  on  board  the 
(iolden  Hind. 

Hefore  leaving  this  friendly  port,  Drake  took  formal 


SWOlilJ    AND   GOWN    IN    CALIKOUNIA. 


57 


jiosst'ssioii  (tf  the  country  by  settiiijjf  up  Ji  i)ost,  to  wliicli 
;i  plati'  of  l)rass  was  tixt'd,  with  Qut'cu  Kliziibolli's  nauiu 
t'liuraviMl  oil  it. 

riiL'  wliite  clitHs  of   the  coast   that   rose  altout   him, 
would  seem  to  have  recalled  to  Drake's  mind  those  oC 


th 

re 

■i 

:    1 
1 

VL' 

jiS 

c.l 

ikI 

is 

Wll 

Mil    t'UANCIH    DItAKK. 


Old  lMiL»land,  tor  lie  ^av(^  tlie  name  of  New  Allison  to  all 
tills  nivat  land  he  had  mercdy  coasted.  We  should  not 
t<»rL,'('t  that  Kli/.aheth  herself  afterwards  said  (A'  such 
acts  that  "discovery   is  of  little  worth  without   actual 

lMlSS('Ssi(Ml." 

llaviiiL;;  planted  this  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Spanish 
Kin|iiii!  of  the  West,  Drakt^  merrily  sailed  away  for 
Kiii;laiid  i)y  way  of  the  Cape  of  (iood  Hope.' 


58 


S\V()KI>    AND    (iOWN    IN    ("ALI  F(  )i:N  I  A. 


Spain  eojiipliiincd.    Klizalu'tli  listciiod  witli  inipaticiicc 
Wlicii  tlio  Spanisli  anil)assa(l()r  insisted  on  Ins  master's 


sole    riglit 


My  hrothiT  Don  .Foliu 
To  Kiigluiid  is  guue, 


SWORD    AND   (JOWN    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


59 


To  kill  tlu'  Drake, 

And  the  (jueeii  to  tako, 

And  the  heretics  all  to  destroy." ' 

I)iak(;  had  perliaps  done  as  imidi  as  any  man  to 
l)riiit^  about  the  issue,  lie  was  there  in  the  tliiek  ol' 
the  iight.*^ 

So  the  spell  of  Spanish  invinfil)ility  was  bruken  at 
last.     Spain  was  no  longer  mistress  of  t'ne  seas. 

Next  on  her  brilliant  roll  of  navigators,  eomes  Juan 
(Ic  Fuea,  who  (1592)  discovered  the  straits  tiiat  now 
lu'Ui-  his  name.  Spain  still  wanting  a  harbor  in  which 
the  Manila  galleons  could  refit  when  homeward  bound, 
Sel)astian  Vizcaino  (1G02-1603),  sometimes  called  "the 
Hiscayner,"  entered  the  haven  of  San  Diego,  and  tliat 
of  Monterey,^  which  he  then  named,  as  he  also  did  the 
one  lying  within  Point  Reyes,  called  l)y  him  Port  San 
Fr.mcisco.^o  Exploration  of  this  coast  then  ceased  for 
a  (t'utury  and  a  half. 

The  real  advance  into  California  (1768),  like  all 
otiicr  Spanish  movements  on  this  continent,  origi'.iated 
in  a  Iialf-monkish,  half-military  i)lan  for  the  eonijuest, 
conversion  and  civilization  of  the  country.  Knoiigji 
was  known  of  its  soil  and  climate  to  show  how  far  both 
exceeded  the  sterile  steppes  of  New  Mexico,  where 
Spanish  advance  had  already  reached  its  farthest 
limit,  and  like  a  stream  that  meets  an  obstacle  in  its 
l»atli,  was  turned  into  another  channel.  For  where 
plants  grow  and  rivers  flow,  God  has  fixed  the  abodes 
of  men. 

riiis  movement  began  '■  from  the  missions  «»f  Lower 
California.  It  was  designed  to  extend  the  system  by 
wiiieji  Spain  had  first  concpiered,  and  since  ruled, 
Mexico  into  the   unoccupied  and  little-known  province 


60 


SWOIII)    AND   GOWN    IN    (AM  FollNI  A. 


of  Alta,  or  U[)iiL'r,  Califoriiiii.  The  viceroy  was  to 
I'uniisli  soldiers,  tlie  presi(lent-[)relate  of  tlie  Fmneiscaii 
order,  inissioiiaries. 

Thus  coast  l)atteries  and  forts  were  to  he  hiiilt  f(»r 
the  defence  of  tlie  hest  harhors,  as  well  as  to  sustain 
the  missions  themselves,  so  forming  a  line  of  niilitarv 
strength  along  the  coast  suflicient  to  repel  assault  h\ 
bea  or  land,  while  the   mountains  hehiiul   them   would 

be  a  harrier 

-^I   between  the 

missionsand 

the      wild 


ri.f^'WM:- 


,§*- "-, 


j^l  Partus  'ijJovs  41  ---^ 


:: —  '       ;    ^^^^^^^      -^^-.-  — ,     -  ,  __.i^ 

./f^a  ct>Tf,<.cum  Larefatme  Cfertir/S  in  jku  tlLuS  fs:.-\j'^-^-ii ha-ji 


~-JI^^v     -:^ 


ULU    MAP,   MUUWltiU   UKAKK's    1>UUT. 


tribes  who 
lived  in  the 
great  val- 
l(!ys  ])evond. 
One  arm  was 
to  seize  up- 
on and  liriii- 
ly  hold  the 
country  in 
its   g  r  a  s  1  > , 

while  the  other  should  gradually  bring  it  into  suIh 
jection  to  the  Catlndic  faith.  Then,  with  clerical  rule 
once  established,  civil  order  was  to  come  in.  There- 
lore  the  lirst  essential  thing  was  to  build  a  fort,  au<i 
the  sectuid  a  church.  In  this  way  it  was  proposed  l<t 
make  rallying-j)oints  for  civilization  of  these  missions, '- 
although  the  plan  founded  an  oligarchy  and  nothinjf 
else. 

The  Sjianiards  did  not  mean  to  till  tlie  soil  them- 
selves, but  to  make  the  Indians  do  it  for  them.  Settinj,' 
this  scheme  at  work,  a  Franciscan  mission  was  begun 


SWORD   AND   (JOWN   IN   CAMKOUNIA. 


fil 


;il  Sail  Dicj^o  ill  July,  1700.  Tlio  next  year  aiiotlicr 
was  cstaldislicd  at  Moiitcivy.  From  tlu'sc  iiiissioiis 
cxjiloit'is  presently  made  tlieir  way  out  to  tlie  valley  of 
the  >^An  Joa(iiiin,  and  even  as  far  north  as  the  great  hay 
nf  San  Franeiseo  (1772),  which  took  to  itself,  a  little 
later,  the  name  of  the  old  Port  San  Franeise(»,  with 
wliicli  it  must  not  be  confounded. 

In  1770  the  Mission  of  San    Francisco  was  founded. 
Monterey   being    the    chief  settlement,  the    governor's 


•  AKMKI,    MISMION    Cll('l((ll. 


nlHcial  residence  was  fixed  there;  and  now,  so  late  as 
tiic  jieriod  of  American  Independence,  we  have  the 
iiiiicliinery  for  civilization  in  California  fairly  set  in 
iiiotion. 

riieplan  which  the  founders  had  piojiosed  to  tln'iii- 
M'lvcs  also  included  the  building-up  of  j)ueblos,  which 
sli(tiiid  be  located  in  suitable  places  outside  the  missions, 
tliough  actually  meant  for  their  supjiort,  and  therefore 
ill  a  sense  de})en<hMicies  of  them.  JJut  these  puelilos 
wcif  to  be  inhabited  by  Spanish  colonists  only.     One 


62 


SNVOIJI)    AN1>  GOWN    IN    (ALI KOKNIA. 


was  thus  Ik'^uii  ( 1 777 )  at  San  .lusd,  and  a  second  (1 ,'  S]  ) 
al  Los  Angeles.  Here  llu'n  are  plants  of  two  distin*  t 
types  in  the  growth  of  the  country,  —  native  vassals 
and  f«>reign  freemen. 

As,  one  by  one,  missions  were  created,  the  native 
Californians  were  told  they  must  come  and  live  in  thejn, 
and  suhmit  themselves  to  the  fostering  care  of  the  fatli- 
ers,  who  would  teacdi  tiiem  how  to  live  as  the  whites  did, 
and  make  known  to  them  the  blessings  of  Christianity,  so 
that  their  children  might  exceed  their  fathers  in  knowl- 
edge, and  as  they  were  a  docile,  submissive  and  indolent 
people,  they  mostly  ol)eyed  the  order  unresistingly,  and 
were  set  to  work  building  houses,  tilling  the  soil,  or 
tending  flocks  or  herds  belonging  to  the  missions,  into 
whicli  it  was  the  aim  of  the  fathers  to  draw  all  t!it' 
wealth  of  the  country. 

These  pious  fathers,  however,  thought  more  of  con- 
verting the  Indian  than  of  making  a  man  of  him.  It  is 
true  they  baptized  and  gave  him  a  Christian  name,  but 
tliey  lield  liim  in  servitude  all  the  same.  The  system 
looked  to  keeping  him  a  dependant  rather  than  rousing 
liis  ambitions,  or  showing  him  how  he  miglit  better  his 
eon<lition.  For  instance,  the  Indian  could  ludd  no  land 
in  his  own  right.  His  labor  went  to  enrich  the  mission, 
not  himself.  He  was  fed  and  clotlied  from  the  mission. 
He  was  a  mere  atom  of  society,  a  vassal  of  the  Church, 
and  was  so  treated.  Men  and  women  were  i)Ut  in  tlit- 
stocks  or  whipped  at  the  jdeasure  of  their  masters,  just 
the  same  as  in  slave  plantations.  If  an  Indian  ran  away. 
he  Wiis  pursued  and  bi-ought  back  by  the  military.  The 
missionaries  found  him  free,  but  took  away  his  liberty. 
In  short,  .,pite  of  all  the  romance  thrown  round  him. 
and  though  his  condition  was  somewhat  better   tlian  it 


SWOKD   AND   COWS    IN    OALllOUMA. 


68 


Ii;i(1  Ikm'M  ill  tiiiu's  past,  yet  when  mII  is  said,  the  inission 
Iiiiliaii  was  Iianlly  more  than  a  si'it'.  Slill  the  work  of 
tilt'  inissi(»iis  so  prospered  tliat  by  tlie  end  of  tlie  century 


^v> 


/■.Hvi.  Mantr  heifK  '■*•»  » 


4> 


& 


Pla.d.  Pinosi 


_j3I.S.Ant?. 

3C.d  S.Carlus  d  Muntc-  Key 


^ 


^ 


^ 


Pta.de  la  Contention -f"  / 


Cai>«l  ''f^'a.hu,./^ 


1   A  M,<l«-  S.Diitro 

i-'tii.rif  Sn.Di^ijn''-'  is)      \  ! 
!i_^     — 


M'AM8I1    MAI'  or   1T»7,   MIUWINU   MlaHlUMa,    PUG'.UUIUH,   AND    IIOLTE8. 

ilicie  were  eijijhteen  of  them  with  18,r)00  converts.     Hut 
iit  lliis  time  there  were  no  more  than  1,800  whites  in  the 
«:<'iiiitiy,  <»r  only  one  hundred  to  a  mission, 
''^luii,  hrielly,  were  tlie  Spanish  missions  of  (lalifoniia. 


64 


SWoi:l>    AN1>  (lOWiN    IN    CALIFOIINIA. 


which  un(K'it(Mik  a   ii(»i)I('  work,  not  nohly  (hmc,  whii  li 
kept  the  word  of  proiuisf  to  tho  ear  and  l)rokt'  it  to  tin- 

llOjK*. 

If  we  look  at  the  coiiinicrcial  j)olicy  <»f  Ihi'  provinrc 
and  it  is  what  we  siioiild  most  natnrally  turn  to  next, 
wo  sliall  lind  ahnost  no  l)usin('ss  transacted  with  the 
ontsi(U' worhl.  Onee  a  year  tlie  Manihi  j^alK'on  cann- 
to  Monterey  and  took  away  tlie  furs  ...it  liad  hei'U  cui- 
leeted  there.     Spain's  policy  shut  ►  1  other  nations 


from  lior  colonies,  and  to  the  same  extent  shut  the  cul- 
onies  in.  So  forei^Jin  vessels  were  forbid  to  enter  lier 
lK)rts  at  all.  To  this  fact  we  owe  the  meaore  and  unfrc- 
qnent  reports  of  what  was  pfoinu^  on  in  the  e<»untry,  nor 
was  it  till  1780  that  the  world  learned  something  of  its 
true  cfuidition  and  worth. 

In  that  year  a  French  discovery  ship  put  into  IMon- 
terey.  Her  commander  was  La  Peyrouse,^^  wlK»m 
Louis  XVL  liad  sent  to  the  Pacific  to  look  into  the 
fur  trade  of  the  north-west  coast,  and  w1h>,  after  tourli- 


I  iiia|m  BO  lute 


SWORD    AND   OOWN    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


66 


iiiij  there,  had  come  down  tlie  coast  to  relit  in  a  Span- 
isli  port.  La  Peyrouse  used  the  six  weeks  of  his  stay 
ill  Monterey  to  such  purpose  that  we  owe  to  him  the 
lirst  and  only  intelligent  view  of  California  iiad  up  to 
this  time. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  communication  with  the  neigli- 
hor  provinces  was  mostly  carried  on  by  sea.  Tiierc 
was  a  little  trade  with  San  Bias,  and  so  with  OKI 
Mexico,  but  it  was  long  before  the  way  was  opened 
to  New  Mexico  by  crossing  the  Colorado  desert.  One 
of  the  fathers,  in  1770,  set  out  from  San  Gabriel  for 
the  Colorado  River,  passing  safely  over  the  route  now 
followed  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway.  After- 
wards, a  little  trade  sprung  u^)  between  the  prov- 
inces, but  the  way  was  long  and  the  road  beset  with 
dangers. 

The  first  American  vessel  to  enter  a  California  port 
was  the  ship  Otter  of  Boston,  in  1796.  She  was  an 
armed  trader,  carrying  a  pass  signed  l)y  Washington, 
of  whom  it  was  doubtful  if  the  Californians  had  even 
so  nuich  as  heard,  though  they  admitted  the  Otter  to 
trade  with  them. 

The  Spaniards  had  found  the  natives  singularly  free 
fntni  the  vices  of  civilization,  but  intermingling  of  the 
two  races  soon  led  to  mingling  of  blood,  and  subso- 
<HU'nt  growth  of  an  intermediate  class  half  Spanish  and 
lialf  Indian,  so  combining  certain  traits  of  both  without 
ilic  native  vigor  of  either. 


'  California  the  Name,  as  applied 
ui  the  |)eiiiiiBiila,  flrHt  uppcarH  in  Treciu- 
do«'  diary  of  Ulloa's  voyage. 

'  California  an  Island  on  Eng- 
liith  iimpH  H(i  !tttea«170!»  (H.  Moll,  "  Pres- 
ent State  of  the  Worhl  "). 

*  CABUiLLo'ii  VuVAQE   is  reprinted 


in  the  Report  of  the  Wheeler  Exploring 
Expedition. 

«  C  A  p  K    Mendocino.    Bancroft 
("The  Parilic  States")  thinks  the  name 
was  given  in  honor  of  the  viceroy  Men 
doza. 

B  NoRTu-EAST    Passage    here,   or 


6<; 


SWORD    AND   fSOWN    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


North  wodt  PaHnnifc  from  Jiu'  Atlantic 
nldp,  wni>  n  tiling  llriuly  Itelivvvtl  In  liy 
till-  Hiiiloi'H  (if  all  iiiiliohH. 

"  I'uakk'n  IIakiiuu  Ih  not  satUfiu- 
torily    iili-ntltlcd.       AiitburitioH    (lilTi-r. 
Some,  llkf  Admiral  Unrncy,  In-licvi-  the 
prt-Hent  port  of  San  FraiulHco  to   have 
been    Drakc'i*   aiu-horai^e;    othcri*,  like 
llancrofi,  maintain  tbin  to  lie  wLolly  Im 
liroliulili-,  and  think  Old  I'urt  !;an  Fran 
I'irtcu,  under  i'oint  llcyo*,  wan  the  place. 
Soo    Fletclier'rt    account,   "  'i'lie   World 
EncHiinpaHHi>d,"   or    Uancrofl'i*     Monti- 
mental  Ilixtory. 

'  l)nAKE's  VOTACE  nOl-ND  THE 
WoriLl).  A  chair  made  from  hin  nhip  wai* 
picxenttnl  to  the  UnlverHity  of  Oxford. 

"  The  Invincible  Abmada  of 
Philip  II.,  KiSS. 

"  Mu.NTEiiEY,  literally  KiiigV  Moun 
taiu. 


*"  I'l'.NTA  DB  LOS  KkTEH,  or  KillK  •> 
I'olnl. 

■■  Ukoan  riioM  Ln  I'nz. 

"  MlfSloNiH  were  founded  wiih 
fundi*  given  by  !>enevolent  pcrHonH,  at 
the  Holicilatlon  <if  the  inonkH,  .\  rii\;ii 
grant  wait  HoinetimeH  the  fonndalion. 
They  were  invariably  named  in  honor  of 
a  ludnt.  The  lndldingH  UHually  f(irnu<l  a 
w|uare,  eneioMed  by  a  tiiKh  wall,  one  tinl 
bein^  occupied  liy  the  church,  while  (In' 
nimrtmentii  of  the  friarn,  granniiiH, 
Htorehoumw,  etc.,  occupied  t lie  reniainitii; 
oideo. 

'•'  La  Pev  ->i'8E,  an  oHlcer  of  ilic 
French  navy  «vho  had  Kallantly  fouulit 
in  our  war  for  independeiice.  lie  IuhI 
hii«  life  among  the  ixlandi*  of  the  Ni\\ 
llelirideH,  on  oue  of  widch  h\<*  nldp  wax 
thrown,  uot  a  mouI  tiurvivlng  to  tell  the 
tale. 


II. 

THE    FRENCH 


PRELUDE. 

AFTER  the  (liscoverv  of  America  bv  Coliiml)iis,  the 
Freiicli  were  amoiij^  the  first  to  turn  tlieir  attention 
to  tliis  side  of  the  Athmtie,  not  so  nineli  to  make  eon- 
(jnests  in  tlie  spirit  of  universal  dominion,  as  tlie  Span- 
ianls  were  dciino;,  as  to  seek  new  outlets  or  new  sources 
(if  supply  for  their  eonimerce  and  fisheries. 

Sjuiin,  as  we  liave  seen,  forced  other  nations  to  follow 
licr  lead  at  a  respectful  distance.  With  one  f(»ot  i)lanted 
ill  Kurope  and  the  other  in  America,  she  bestrode  the 
Atlantic  as  the  colossus  of  the  age. 

lint  the  newly  awakened  sjjirit  of  discovery  would 
nut  down  at  the  bidding  of  prince  or  pontiff,  let  him  be 
never  so  great  or  so  powerful.  Once  aroused  it  was 
sure  to  find  ways  by  which  some  part  of  the  benefits  to 
acrrue  to  mankind  from  this  grand  discovery  should 
not  he  monopolized  by  a  single  nntion.  We  might  even 
sav  that  all  the  nations  of  Europe  instinctivelv  felt  this 
to  be  their  opportunity, — the  opportunity  of  the  human 
race. 

France  had  the  ships,  and  France  had  the  sailors. 

Sir   Walter   Raleigh    tells   us  —  and    surely    he   is   an 

unbiassed  witness  —  that  in  Caesar's  tune  the    French 

67 


CiH 


IMtHLl'DK. 


IJrotons  wore  tlic  host  sailors  in  llio  world.  Were  we 
disposed  to  call  in  (jiicstion  tli(>ir  ri<^dit  to  this  tith;  at  a 
lalrr  day,  —  the  tiinc  of  Coliiiiilms,  ('al)ot,  CNirtorcal-  and 
Ma^Xfllan,  —  what  can  hv  said  of  tlioir  Ixddlv  settin'' 
sail  across  an  unknown  ocean,  like  the  Atlantic,  in 
vessels  not  larL^er  than  a  modern  oystcr-hoat  ? 

Vet  the  names  thev  lel't  hchind  them  in  their  a<lvon- 


turouf 


vovaiTcs 


make  it  certain 
that  these  Has<|Uc 
and  Breton  lislni- 
men  pushe(l  thcii 
way  into  the(iull 
of  St.  Lawrence 
soon  after  Cahdi 
carried  home  to 
Kn<,dand  thene\\> 
that  he  had  been 


in  so 


as  al 


ive  with 


CO( 


llisli. 
Thck 


now 


le(l"4( 


1 


hlllCM  or  TUt:   nIXTICtNTII  C'KNTL'UY. 


inns  (^anie<l  point- 
ed with  imerriiii: 
liniicr  to  the  St. 


I 


^awrencc  j 


IS    till' 


open  ilonr  throiij;;h  which  French  discoverers  shouiii 
|tass  int<»  the  spaci(Mis  interior  of  our  hroad  continent. 
thou<(h  never,  in  their  wildest  lli^hts  of  fancy,  could 
thev  have  c(Uiceivc<l  what  lav  beyond  this  d(»or.  Se 
accident  rj'*her  than  choice  le(l  them  on  throuj^h  tin* 
colder  region  of  the  north.  And  while  the  Spanianl> 
had  missed  the  Mississi|ipi,  a  mort;  fortunate  chaiui' 
letl  Frenchmen   to  liiu'.   it  by  a  very  dilVcrcnt,  thciigii 


VliEU'DK. 


C9 


no  loss  (HMtaiii,  route,  'i'u  tliein  luj  the  honor  of  llic 
inliicvcmeiit ! 

»Iust  as  till'  march  of  S[iaiiish  civilization  is  traced  in 
the  names  <^iv('n  by  explorers  of  that  nation,  so,  in 
like  manner,  those  conferred  by  Frenchmen  shall  direct 
MS  ill  the  lines  by  wliich  they  journeyed  onward  toward 
tiir  seltinj;  sun. 

Altliou^h  Ja([ucs  ('artier'  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence 
NO  early  as  lo34-35,  it  was  not  till  Champlain  founded 
(^Miebec  (1608),  Uiat  the  work  of  settling  a  French 
lulony  in  Canada  began  in  earnest.  IJut  even  here, 
at  (Quebec,  three  hundred  miles  from  the  ocean,  the 
fjreat  river  poured  its  undiminished  Hoods  out  of  the 
wilderness  beyond,  and   it   bore   its  greatness  on   its 

I'.tce. 

Astonished  to  find  themselves  only  on  the  threshold, 
as  it  were,  f)f  the  continent,  the  adventurous  i)ioneers 
ciMipflit  their  lirst  glimpses  of  its  undoubted  grandeur. 
Tliiit  they  were  dazzled  by  it,  is  something  we  may 
easily  conceive. 

Whence  came  thi.s  silent  river,  this  daily  riddle  for 
iiii'ii  to  guess,  and  whither  would  it  lead  them?  In  what 
i'ai- country  wouM  its  tiny  tributary  rills  be  found?  Did 
tiny  lie  hid  among  the  feet  of  far-olV  mountains,  over- 
peering  all  tin;  land  liV^  hoary  giants,  or  gush  forth 
tVoiii  the  l)osoni  of  some  vast  plai:  ?  Was  it  indeed  the 
I'Mil  to  In<lia  ?''^ 

To  such  (juestiojis  as  tliesc  tlio  future  must  make 
iiiiswer.  All  believed  it  would  lead  to  India.  Hut 
("hiimplain  and  those  who,  like  him,  lookeil  at  things 
hro.idly  und  deeply,  were  eonvincerl  that  whoi'ver 
should  hold  that  river  throughont  its  c(»urse  wouhl  be 
masters  of  the  continent  it  undonl»tedly  <lrained.     And 


JU- 


70 


PUKIilThK. 


as  Krciiclmicn  v.wv  loyal  to  ihv'w  kiiij^  and  comitiy,  whose 
glory  tii(!y  would  scm;  iiicifasrd,  tliry  |Mir|)osc;d  iiiakiiin 
Iieic,  ill  tlic  wildcriufss,  a,  Ni:w  FuANrK  wliicli  sonic 
day,  jM'ilia)»s,  should  rival,  if  not  fclijtsc',  tiic  old. 

To  this  work  tin;    Fnuich  hrongiit  (»n«  (jualiruuitioii 
|M'(tuliarly  their  own.     It  was  this.     Of  the  IhrcM.'  nations 

wln»  have  (tontendcfj 
for  control  in  our 
country,  none  have 


so    rear 


lil^ 


a( 


hipt 


UMJ 


themselves     to     the 
original  peopleasthc 


V 


h  h 


r(Micli  liav( 


N 


til 


oik; 


ighly 


nave  so  tiiorou 


respected  th(;ir  feel- 
ings and  prejudices. 


And 


none 


lave  s(i 


-^^~  easily  won  their  eou- 
lidcnce,  or  so  fully 
coniinanded       their 


services. 


Moreover,  the 


!• 


•hi 


reiieli  oeing  rallier 


ith 


lrad(>rs     than     eoio- 


A    W<M)U   IlANliKU. 


nists     111 


tl 


l(! 


true 


sense 


)ecause      iii 


(vanada  tiie  fur  trade*'  was  ciiiefly  looked  to,  and  c(»li)- 
nization  was  thought  uiifavorai>l(;  t(»  it,  exploration 
i»eeaine  tiie  |Uofessiou,  W(^  might  say,  of  many  wliit 
traiiKMl  themselves  for  it  i»y  living  among  tiie  Indians, 
studying  tiieir  language,  their  liai»its,  learning  how  in 


th 


ddh 


d< 


use    tn(»    |)a(l(lle,   niaKing    long    cjiuoe   voyages,  u'e;  so 
inuring  tiieir  liodies  to  the  toil  and  hardshi])  of  saviii^'c 


ruKMnnc. 


71 


life.  Wliilc  tlic  Kii^^lisli  n'lnaiiKMl  in  their  villages,  the 
Fnuich  waiuhncMl  cvciywliert'. 

If  we  add  to  tills  tiial  the  Freiicli  are  u  nation  of 
(•\|tlor('rs,  in  wlioni  discovery  sj)ee(liiy  «h'veIo|»s  into 
a  jiassion,  we  sliall  j^et  ni  tlie  true  aniniatin;^'  spirit 
which  carried  theiu  so  far  into  the  interior,  whetiic'r  as 
sini|tle  traihMs,  .sohliers,  or  niissionaiies. 

'I'lie  worhl  ecudd  ill  s[)ar(;  oin;  ol  its  pioneers.  They 
arc  hi'ralds  of  civilization  following  the  gniding  star  of 
its  destiny. 


>  .FAc>t'P,s     '"AnTlKK     nt»rcinlc<l    tho 
St.  l.ikwnMit-c  IU4  ht^li  iiH  Moiilii'iil  (Itoyul 
Moiiiii),  whit-h  he  iiained  fur  Ihu  tnoiiii 
(am  Lack  of  th<'  «ily. 

'  'riiE  UoAi*  TO  India  wuh  no  k>i4M 
ih<>  u'oal  of  curly  Krcnch  vxploriTH  thiiii 
nitl>  tli>>f«(>  of  DiluM  riiilioiiH. 

'  I'lii;  Fun  TUADK  of  Canmla,  riillicr 
thikii  ai;iiciilluru  or   llnhuricH,  wuh  cuu 


HidercHl  ilH  InioKf  HOdrro  of  wealth  ho- 
caiiHo  it  t(av(!  iintnoiiali!  rctiiriiH,  ami 
wan  thotiulit  lo  bu  liicxIiatiHtiltlc. 
Mciicc  il  lM-caiii(>  lh<!  <-iii{roH>>liii;  iM'fii|>a 
tioii  of  till- liilialtitaiilH.  ll  waH  ;{raiilcil 
In-Hl  to  He  MoiitH,  thou  to  olhcrrt  wlir> 
iiiidertixjk  to  culouizu  (y'uuadu  ul  thvir 

UWU  UUHl. 


WESTWARD   BY   THE   GREAT   INLAND   WATERWAYS. 

"  /  hear  the  tread  of  pioneers 
Of  nations  yet  to  be.     —  WhitHer. 

Kkom  Qnehci?  Chaniplain  jtnshcd  on  np  the  river  to 
the  island  <d"  Montreal,  when;  he  estahlishcd  a  trading- 
|iosi.  Iliiher  eanu;  the  llnrons  oi'  the  lake;  to  harter 
llicir  .'urs  lor  FrtMiidi  goods.  They  canu!  ])y  way  of 
hake  Nipissing  and  tlu;  Ottawa.  T1m^s(>  Indians  told 
tiic  Fren«'h  all  alxuit  their  country,  an<l  the  way  to  it. 
One  of  tluMn  showed  Chainplain  an  ingot  of  (topper, 
ami  described  thi;  way  his  people  relincfl  it  from  the 
iiuiive  ore.  Int(;rpr«ders  hegaii  to  study  the  Indian 
(lialeets,  and  eager  tnuh-rs  to  push  ont  farth(;r  and 
fail  her  into  the  wilderness  for  the  sake  of  larger  gains. 


72 


WKSTWAUn    I»V     rilK    INLAND    WATEUWAVS. 


Iiiit  tlic  iniitn  to  tin!  west  was  not  witlidut  |)L'ril.s 
wliicli  tlir  French  round  it  hard  to  ovcritonic.  Two 
^rcat  rival  I'ainilics  of  savaj^cs  wen*  divided  tVoin  eacli 
other  liv  tlie  St.  Lawrence  and  tlu;  Lakes.  Tliose  liviii<( 
nortli  of  the  river  may  lie  in<dnde(l  in  tlie  general  name 
of  Ilnrons ; '  those  on  th 


le  soulii  were  ca 


lied  I 


ro(|Uois.- 


'I'lie  two  wage(l  perpetual  war  with  each  other,  drawin<r 

to    them     kindred 
or  trihutarv  trihcs. 


I 


n     an    evil     iioin- 


V,\ 


1  a  m 


I'l 


1 1  n 


iud 


taken  part  witii  tin 


II 


urons,  so  K 


lenti 


I'ving  tlu!  Frencli, 
in  the  minds  of 
th(>  lro(|Uois,  with 
their  worst  ene- 
mies. 

It'  to  natural  oli- 


itacl(^s    I 


»e 


>hlc(l 


tl 


u;    enm 


ity    <d' 


(  IIAMI'LAIN. 


most  valiant  peo- 
ple, whosi'  country 
stretched  ahuig  the  whole  southern  shore  of  Lake  On- 
tario, who  controlled  the  poriatje  round  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  and  were  undisputed  masters  (d*  the  lake  itscll, 
we  uhull  go  forward  with  sonu;  idea  of  the  im[>e(li- 
nionts  to  peaceful  ex])loratioii  and  of  the  eonsunnnatc 
folly  whi(di  had  put.  this  stund)ling-l>lock   in    tin;   Wiiy 

of  it. 

W(;  know  that  before  1(112  (Miamplain  ha<l  iiiformcil 
liimself  (|uite  thoroughly  about  Lake  Ontario,  because 
we  tiud  the  lake  outline<l  on  his  map  of  that  year.     For 


W1<:ST\VARI»    I5V     I.IK    INLANh    WATKI!  W  A  \  S.         73 

ii  likf  reason  we  jinl^c  liiiii  to  liavc  known  of  (lie  Niii^Mia 
liivcr  and  Tails.-'     lint  (liat  way  tlic  Inxiuois  lay. 
This  state  of  tliinj^s  loieed  uxi»lnrali<»n   into  a  (|iiit{' 


A    I'ttUTAtiK. 


issin^',     and      thcnci! 

down  Ficncli  Uiver 
to  ilir  lake,  instead  ol'^imi}^  tlnonf^li  tlie  open  waters  ol' 
liiikes  Ontario  and  Krie. 

in  IBlf)  ('lianii>lain  hroiijiflit  some  Franeis(;an  mission- 
aries to  (^iieliee,  one  of  whom  made  his  way  n])  the 
fMtiiwa   to    Lake    Huron    a   little  before  him.     In    Iti-'G 


74 


WKSTWAIM)    IIY   THK    INLAND    WATIOIIWAYS. 


(jiiiiio  tlio  Jesuit  Fii(li(3is,^  win*  lir(iu<;li(  tlu;  zmi]  <if  their 
order  to  tiie  cause  of  evan<:[eli/.iiiLj  (lie  Indians,  'riicu 
Kirhelieii/'  wlio  held  iUv  ndiis  (»!'  the  moiiaiehy  in  his 
iiaiids,  founded  Ids  famous  ('on4)anv  of  New  KraiKc, 
to  whom  th(;  Kiug  not  only  «,Mante(l  full  [Mtwers  (»!' 
government,  hut  also  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  s<» 
turning  Canada  over  to  jjrivate  hands. 

An  iniprosperous  beginning,  however,  awaited  tlic 
new  order  of  things.  Civil  war  had  broken  out  in 
France.  Richelieu  was  beleaguering  the  heretics  ul 
La  Kochelh;  when  Kngland  nungled  in  the  fray.  In 
V\'2\)  the  English  took  Quebec  from  the  French,  and  di<l 
not  restori!*^  it  again  till  1(132. 

At  this  time  the  eomiuerors  had  carried  Champlaiii 
to  Kngland,  a  })risoner  of  war.  He  returned  to  Quebec 
ill  lt)33,  again  in  chief  command,  though  soon  (103")) 
to  di(!  at  his  post,  greatest  among  all  the  exi)lorers  of 
liis  time. 

With  Champlain's  •leatli,'^  a  new  force  came  into  the 
causi!  of  discovery  and  conversion,  for  since  the  comiiiff 
of  the  Jesuits  the  two  were  hen<;eforth  to  go  hand  in 
hand. 

At  the  pleasure  of  the  general  of  the  order,  its  niis- 
sionari(>s  might  be  sent  with  .scrip,  staiV,  and  wallet  U> 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Like  John  the  liap- 
tist  in  the  wilderness,  wo  find  them  living  on  sucii 
scant  fare  tis  nature  sn|)plied.  Their  beds  were  the 
bare  ground.  CndcM'  a  canopy  of  green  botighs  they 
reare(l  the  altar  of  their  lnnnble  niissi<»ns  for  the  wor- 
ship of  tin;  ever-living  (Jod.  Thus  in  exile  and  in  want, 
they  began  their  ministrations  among  the  rude  peoples 
of  the  wild(;rn(  ^s  because  (Jod  an<l  the  Blessed  Virgin 
had  given  them  this  pious  work  to  do.     Their  foiul  wa> 


WKSTWAUI)    HV    TIMO    INLAND    WATKIIWAVS. 


7r> 


ol'lcn    iiiun>    ii(iiirisliiiii>; 


to    I] 


i(>    iin:t<>'iiiatinii    tliaii 


II 


k; 


IhiiIv,  y<'t  wIkmi  u()mi>ai('(l  wiili  wluit  llicy  miglit  cxju'ct 
ill  (iic  liiiiids  of  tli(;  Ir<)(|U()is,  liuii^ci-  (Mtuiitcfl  tor  little, 
siiK'O  these;  l>iirl)iiiiim.s  of  tlic  New  World  hurut  a  mis- 
sionary alive  vvitli  the  same  zest  that  C'hiistiaiis  of  the 
()|<l  (lid  a  heretic;. 

Men  williiit;'  to  undertake  such  duties,  uiider^^o  such 
liarilshi[>s,  live  such  lives,  an;  sure  to  leave  their  imi)ii!ss 
(111  any  country.     We  shall  lin<l  they  did  so  on  ours. 

On  their  [tart  the  savages  truly  wished  for  knowle(l;jje 
(if  the  white  man's  (Jod,  who  they  were  told,  and  ho 
licved,  was  ahle  to  raise  them  up  out  of  their  lowly 
(diiilition  and  make  them  rieh  and  |)(»werful  like  tlu; 
whites.  So  much,  at  least,  of  the  Jesuits'  teachings 
they  could  comprehend. 

No  long  time  elapsed  l)efore  these  Jesuits  made  their 
way  to  the  Ilurons  of  the  lake,  aud  here  (1<J34)  they 
cstahlishcd  their  first  missions. 

Some  say  that  in  this  same  year  a  French  tra<ler, 
iiaiiiecl  Jean  Nicolet."*  made  his  way  as  far  west  us  the 
(iieen  Hay  of  I^ake  Michigan.  There  is  hoj>eless  eon- 
I'lisiun  al)out  the;  date,  hut  none  as  to  the  fact  of  iiis 
hcing  the  lirst  white  man  to  set  foot  In  what  is  now  the 
Stale  of  Wisconsin. 

When  Nieolet  got  l)aek  to  Quei)ee,  h«!  tohl  the  mis- 
sionaries tliere  tliat  lie  had  been  on  a  river  wliich  would 
have  taken  him  to  the  sea,  had  he  kept  on  as  he  was 
;j<iiiig  hut  tliree  days  longer.  Hearing  this  story,  the 
lathers  believed  themselves  on  the  <'ve  of  no  less  a 
iliscdvery  than  the  long-sought  outlet    to  India. 

Although  \\io  Sjianianls  said  litth;  ahoui  tiie  diseov- 
fries  they  were  making  <»n  that  side,  they  (jould  not 
prevj'ut  some  knowledge  of  what    they   were  doing   in 


76 


wi:sT\VAi:i>  itv  tiik  im.ani»  watkunvavs. 


w  I 


New  Mexico  iiiid  oil  the  l';i(ili(t  tVnin  leaking  oiii 
tliiuiij^li  tlic  .It'siiils  \\li(»  wdr  lliniist'lvt'S  (^oiiccriMMl  in 
all  tiir.sc  (lisrovcrii's,  iiml  s<»  wen*  iKittcr  iiiloniuMi  thiiu 
titlicrs  ill  rc^anl  (u  tlicir  j»roi^rcss. 

|{|it  tVnin  liic  yr:ii-  lOlO,  wlicii  (lie  inissiniiaiics  sd 
rrriaiiily  llimij^li'  llir  key  n»  iln'  Smitli  Sea  was  in 
tlicii  hands,  n  to  |(),')0,  oi  nuc  wlinh;  dccadr,  llii- 
IiiMjiiois  j^avc  tlic  rrcncli  and  tlicir  allies  other  work  lo 
do  at  lioiiie.  Hardly  could  the  French  consider  them- 
selves  sale  in  their  lorl  at    Montreal,  iiimrh  less  ventnic 

alii'oad  U|)oii  new  scheiiiis 
of  <lis<M»very.  In  vain  tin' 
missionaries crie<l  out  n|H)ii 
the  Iro(|Uois  as  the  ;^rc;it 
scour^a;  of  (  hristianity.  In 
L^        I      '  '-.'    !!^"^^     vain     the    elements     were 

Wl  I  ,   '^'^■3      i"Vok(Ml    to   desti<.\    tlicin. 

^Jl  *  •  >*^'?!>^^^^^  '^''*'  heathen  Weiv  at  tin- 
"^  <h>ors  of  their  nioiiastcrii  s, 

the  Dutch  •*  were  IM-Iiimi 
the  Inxjuois,  nrt^iii,!^  them  on,  and  the  I'litiire  of  New 
rranee  looke<i  i;loomy  indeed. 

rinally  (  ir».")0)  the  Iro(|Uois  carried  the  war  into  lIic 
heart  of  the  liiiron  country  itseli'.  The  iliiroiis  loiii^lil 
well,  hut  were  soon  overpoWi-rtMl  and  driven  from  tlnii 
vill5i;^^cs  into  jierjM'tual  exile.  Some  llcil  to  the  east. 
Home  lo  the  west,  tlu'iJ'hy  hecomiiijj^  so  thonnij^hly  div 
persed  as  never  more  to  he  a  united  iiatiitii. 

With  hriel'  periods  (d'  j-essation  from  ai'tivc  wailiiic. 
which  were  rather  truces  than  |tea<-e,  war  raj^ed  until 
Ititil,  and  as  the  iiiM|uois  now  coiiimanded  all  iIk* 
routes  to  tlm  west,  the  French  were  enectiially  shut 
out  tVoiii  the  (iieat  Lakes  lor  the  time  heing. 


I'lTKM    OK  TIIK    ro.\l.!<. 


A   hiij 

Sujicrior 
W'lien  th 
ii  mission 
Jnniiiey, 
iii'-;lv  oiH! 
in>  loii^ 
him!  want 


^. 


•^Kijiary. 
"Ill    in    |j„ 

nnniiin«'.- 
tuu  yj'ars. 
'"'  ip|»earc 
*'ii  the  son 
"liioMM-  sav; 
'"'<  II  mui-li 
"I'd  talked 
him    their 


\VKST\VAI:I>    ItV    TMK    INLANh    WATKK WA YS. 


77 


A  hritflilcr  <liiv  <la\vii('(|  at  last.  In  IdliO  sonic  Lako 
Sii|iii'i()r  Imliaiis  anivctl  al  (^lu^licf  in  tlicir  (raimrs. 
W'lu'ii  llu-y  were  rea«ly  (o  }^n  Ijack,  llicy  oncird  to  tak«' 
a  inissionary  lioiiic  to  live  willi  llicm.  Il  was  a  teiriMe 
joiiriicy,  liiit  tlic  oiler  i  niilil  not  he  neglected.  Aeeoid- 
iiilL^ly  oiHt  was  sent  liaek   in   tlicir  coinpany,  init   <lieil   in 

misery 
ei-    iiiis- 


im   |(iii)^  time   alter    rea(;liiii^'   tlieii'  country,  of 
aii<l  want.     The    Indians   tlicn   asked    lor    anotlie 


rui:.\t:u  I  •lAii.Mtiit. 


>i<>iiary.  The  next  to  jro  was  ralhcr  Allouez,'"  who  set 
'>iii  in  the  summer  of  Idd.")  in  company  witii  some 
niinniii}^  savaj^es.  Nothinji- was  heard  of  him  for  in-arly 
IW"  years.  He  had  ahoiit  heeii  <;ivcn  ii|»  for  lost  when 
Ih'  i|»|K'ared  at  (^iicIm-c  Itrinirin;;  slranne  lidiiiLfs  indee«|. 
(Ml  the  soiiiIkmii  shore  ol'  j^akc  Superior,  in  the  ton^st, 
iiin"M^' savaj^e  hordes,  he  had  set  up  a  mission,  lie  had 
)'•■(  II  mueli  amoii]^  the  iiei<j^hlMir  (riltes,  and  had  .seen 
tiid  talked  with  the  dreaded  Sioux,  who  proudly  told 
liiiii    their  eountry  reached   to    the  end  of   the    world. 


78      WKSTWAIM*  nv  tin:  inland  watkuways. 


WJ 


Tlicy  also  (nl<l  liiiii  of  a  j^rcat  river,  wliicli  lio  supposcil 
must  '"  I'all  into  tlic?  s<'a  l)y  N'irj^inia.'"  'I'lic  father  wrote 
down  tin?  nani(»  as  tlie  Sioux  pronouneecl  it,  —  Messipi." 
roilowiii*^  in  the  lootsle)is  of  AlIoui'Z  (ir»08).  Fathers 
l)al>lon '- and  .Mai(|uelle '•' wero  Bent  to  the  mission  at 


>'OX   lllVKIi 


the  loot  (»r  Luke  SujK'rior. 
Alleiward  Dahloii  found- 
ed tliat  at  Sault  St.  Marie. 

With      I)ahh)n,      AlloU(;z  '\^  _ 

(1<)70)    ma(h;    a    journey  — r.~ 

from  (Jreen  Hay  up  I^'ox  ITiver  to  Winneliai^o  Lake, 
which  they  crossed.  (Join^  still  farther  on,  they  reaelml 
the  head  waters  of  the  Wis(M»nsin,  which  was  llu-ii 
found  to  h<*  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi. 

Thus,  in  th(!  course  of  a  few  years,  the  Jesuits  hail 
planted  missions  at  La  l*(»inte,  <<n  l^ake  Suju-rior.  at 
Sault  St.    Marie,   its  outlet,  ut   the  Straits   ol"  Mitluli- 


'iiackiiia 

i 'laces,  J I 

in  i\n}  W( 

III    tin 

^Ve^eh  t 

i.d<es   llu 

as  th(*  We 

Wood  Was 

if-     Amid 

save   (he   , 

Mess  of  til 

'  Hinovn, 
ihf  ijiNj  t,h„rv  <j 
lii^iioijH  couiiiry 
NiiHoo,      "The 

"*'«  liv,-  in  Kan. 

'-y  "•"  Kn«li«|,. 
•""(""•iiily  Six  N 
*«"'  MohiiwkH,  o 
•<«>fa^.  S..n(.<-„H.  I, 
"f  ^-rHi  Caroli, 
""•  "'tUi.  '/'h<v 
""«*<•  .lifr.L.ntl, 
•»>■  Hi»- «  r.alor. 

*  'NUOAHA    Hi 
*•«'«.    Thai   (h,. 
Kai.i.^.  j„  evi.j,.,,, 
'■'"".••  m.-nnin^ 
'■*■  I'lit  down  not 
"-'.  1)111  not  far  ,„ 
•    I  'IE  .'EMIT.. 
'  ■'•■"'••'•  •'yltfiiali. 
mil..rH  were  vou 

'"> -'IkI  „lH^|i,.„^.,. 

♦'•"••'rli.|,..r,.HuiiV 
'  ''''(IIEl.iEi-.,, 

IvUl-  VJIJ. 

'  'Ml)   NOT    itKs 

•rrw,r«    of    gn.-.-n 

Mil. 

"""WHiran^,.^ 


WKsrWAIlh    MV    TIIK    INKANI*    WA TKKWA VS. 


70 


iiiiif'kinao,  find  (Iicrn  \\;\y.  All  w«Tf  first  lishinj^- 
j'laccs,  next  iiiissioiis,  uinl  llini  uiitposls  of  rivili/atinn 
111  tlu5  wt'strni  world. 

In  the  S))i'iii<;'  (if  liiTl,  with  iiiik-Ii  rcrcniony,  tlic 
Iiciicii  took  loniiul  jiossessioii  of  Sault  St.  Maiir,  tlu* 
likes  Huron  and  Superior,  and  all  the  eoimtrv  as  far 
.!>  the  W(!stern  sea.  In  token  of  s«»verei;^nity  a  cross  <»f 
\\(K»d  was  reareti  with  the  aims  of  Franee  lixfd  upon 
it.  Amid  volleys  of  musketry,  and  ^houts  of  '*(iod 
save  the  kiii^'!"  France  thus  proehiinu'd  herself  niis- 
tiess  of  the  (treat   West. 


'  UrnoN**,  or  WyamlotH,  occiipicd 
thi- raxt  Hliiiri-  of  l.iikc  Unroll  eiihI  con. 
liiriioiii  country  belwei-ii  thin  uml  l.iik<> 
SiiiK-oc'.  "'rholr  woiiiiMi  were  llu-lr 
luiilvf." —  Cfiutn/ildhi.  'I'hi'  WyiiiiilolM 
iMtw  live  ill  KuiiHiH,  and  iirc  rlvjii/cd. 

'  IlKXjt'oiH,  called  ho  liy  the  Fiviicli; 
liy  till-  KiiKli"!),  Kivc  NalloiiH,  and  miIi 
•ftiui'iiily  Six  NalioiiH.  'I'lic  confcdcr 
at«-<l  MoliawkK,  <  tiu^idaH,  <  'ayiiifaH,  ( liiun- 
dai;ai>,  St-iiccaH,  to  whom  the  TiiMcarDraM 
i>f  .North  Carolina  lM-iii|<  joined,  made 
Ih*  ■^ixlh.  'I'hey  aitrilnited  their  oriu'in 
lolive  dilTeieiit  huiidruU  of  Meed,  Howed 
liy  ilir  ( 'reator. 

'  .NiA(Mit.\  KiVRU  Ih  properly  laid 
ilxuii.  That  Champlaiii  knew  of  the 
Falls,  In  evident  from  I  lie  word"  "  Saul 
'>•!","  meaning  waleifall,  which  he 
haK  put  down  nut  liUite  where  they  be 
i'liL'.  bill  not  far  out  of  the  way. 

•  The  ■Ie^I'ITs,  or  .'>ociely  of  .JeHun, 
(•'Uiidiil  by  iKiiatliiH  Loyola,  l.'»;W.  Tho 
'ruil.crH  were  vowimI  Io  (thoMlllv,  pov- 
•^iiy  iiiid  olKMlieiice.  Se*-  Kneyc';<pie«lla  ; 
tlio  article  .fcHuilV  Mark,  or  Cinchona. 

'  KiciiEi.iEU,  at  Ihirtliine  iniiiiHtcruf 

'  I>II)  NOT  itRsTOKK  (jiiebee  til!  the 

••rcaiM    of    Queen    Ilenrietla'H    dowry 

riti'ii  of  ChurleM  I.)  had   U'eii  paiil  in 

i.l. 

"  How  utranxe  are  thu  froakit  of  diit 


tin\  '  Mary  <le  Meilirii*,  \vidr>w  of  Henry 
1\'.,  exiled  Mild  al>aiid>iiied,  h.til  a  daii(;h 
ter,  lleiirietlu,  widow  of  I'haileH  I., 
who  died  at  CoIokiu-,  in  the  hoiim-  whens 
Klxlyflve  yearM  iK'fore,  UiilH*ni«,  her 
painter,  wii»>  iMirn." —  I'.  //«</«. 

^  (IIAMIM  .\IN,SaMI  Kl.  liK.lliefallier 

of  Canada,  and  llr*!  amoii|{  French  ex- 
plorerH  in  thi-  .New  World,  oiiyht  to  Im- 
held  in  hiuh  exlecni  l>y  AmeriraiiH.  The 
work  he  did  wan  for  nil  lime.  A  man  of 
Hlerlinu  (|iialilieit ;  of  reHoiircen;  of  miIIiI 
Jndtf nieiil ;  never  e(Terv«i«cf nl,  HometimeH 
lieadHirotig,  yet  prompt  to  art  in  emrr- 
((eticleH.  '|'hoiii;h  not  nolile,  hv  had  a 
chivalrir  nature  unit(><i  with  capacity 
for  affairM.  IIIh  r»y<></r  <i  Id  a  Hiorehoum; 
of  iiiformatiuii  cuiiciTiilng  Cauadu  and 
New  KiiKlaiid. 

"  Jean  Xkolet  ban  become  tbv 
Hiilijeci  of  much  diM'Uiw4ion.  The  evi- 
dence lixiiiK  liirt  \ii«il  IO  1*V>I  ii«  wlKilly 
cireuiUMiantial,  therefor'.-  niiMtliitfuciory. 
Hut  it  ii*  l>y  no  meann  improUtlde.  I 
war)  ItrMl  inclined  to  donlit  the  whole 
hlory  ax  told  by  Father  ViiDoni,  ihlnkiiiK 
he  iniKht  have  Im-«-ii  im|M>M-«l  u|»un,  but 
II  bearH  the  xtuiiip  of  K<'nuineiiefM.  'I'he 
Father  wrote  in  li'>40,  hence  Xicolet  muni 
have  K'>ne  to  Ureen  Hay  earlier.  No 
one  diHpiiiex  liiH  claim  lu  l>e  the  lirnl 
white  who  viriiled  tbal  regtoii.  Htf 
JfHiiU  lirlulioiiM  of  1640. 


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HO 


AVESTWARD    T'.Y   TIIH    INLAND    WATERWAYS. 


9  TiiR  DrTcii  then  occupied  New 
York,  with  a  fort  and  trading  pout  at 
Albany,  'i'licy  were  competitors  of  the 
Freneli  for  llie  fnr  trade,  and  tlieref(ne 
natural  allies  of  the  Iroquois,  to  whom 
they  sold  gnnn  to  bo  uned  ugainut  the 
French.  After  New  York  l)ecamo  au 
English  Colony  (1GC4)  the  r^nglish  pur- 
sued the  same  policy  of  confining  the 
French  to  tlie  north  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario. 

'0  Fatheu  Clatde  Allouez,  in  the 
Jesuit  Ile/diioiis. 

11  Messipi,  lirst  moiuioned  under  its 
present  name.  Mostly  pi'onounced  to- 
day as  here  spelled. 


1=  Father  Claude  Dablon  arrived 
in  Canada,  ltw5.  In  KiiiS  he  went  with 
Marquette  to  tlie  Mission  of  St.  Espiit 
on  Lake  Superior.  Afterward  he  founded 
lliat    of    S.    St.    Marie.  —  Jesuit    liehi- 

tiO)IS. 

'3  Father  James  Marquette  came 
to  Canada  1666.  His  going  west  was  in 
the  nature  of  a  re-enforcement  to  those 
earlier  missionaries  whc  iiad  prei)aiwl 
the  way.  He  died  wliile  returning  fnim 
a  journey  to  the  Illinois  towns  in  liiT'), 
or  after  that  made  with  Joliet  the  pre 
vious  year.  Marquette,  Mich.,  is  naimd 
for  him. 


THE   SITUATION   IN   A.D.   1672. 

Since  the  day  of  Cliamplaiivs  deatli  New  France  had 
been  wofully  misgoverned.  Men  who,  like  him,  would 
be  willing  to  give  their  best  efforts  and  best  years  to 
bnilding  np  the  colony,  in  singleness  of  purpose,  were 
not  forthcoming.  Champlain  left  no  successor.  Speak- 
ing generally,  the  post  of  governor  was  calculated  at 
what  it  would  be  worth  to  the  holder.  Sometimes 
it  was  sold  outright,  sometimes  given  in  payment  of 
services,  or  again  to  some  needy  favorite  as  a  means 
to  repair  his  ruined  fortunes.  Hence  most  governors 
looked  upon  Canada  as  a  place  to  get  rich  in,  just  as 
the  better  sort  of  merchants  looked  to  making  fortunes, 
and  then  going  home  to  France  as  quickly  as  possible 
to  enjoy  them.  Where  everybody  thought  about  the 
country  only  as  a  place  of  temporary  sojouru  and  no- 
body as  a  home,  it  is  evident  there  could  be  no  feeling 
of  permanence. 

Meanwhile,  the  short-sighted  policy  of  continually 
drawing  upon  the  natural  resources  of  Canada,  without 


niakin 
mount 
colony 
But 
times  a 
round  I 
Once 
.  iirchies 
to  the  o 
Unde; 
versa]  d 
had  lost 
gal;  unc 
tory  offej 
The  el 
iipr.  fo]J 
king,     p 
Philip   r 
hardly  be 
passed   Jii 
Clioosing 
^Terniany, 
was  to  thi 
made   use 
longer  an^ 

it  was 
'ind  of  Fre 

Jji  our 
«ndary  pi 

•standard  o 
^'*  victory 
^t  had  g( 
^ion  at  th< 


t 


:l 


THE   SITUATION    IN    A.D.    1072. 


81 


making  the  loss  good,  may  be  compared  with  stripping 
mountains  of  their  forests.  Under  this  policy  the 
colony  was  like  a  man  who  is  slowly  bleeding  to  death. 

But  it  was  now  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  who,  if  some- 
times a  hard  master,  possessed  the  rare  gift  of  bringing 
round  him  men  of  superior  abilities. 

Once  more  let  us  glance  at  the  two  leading  mon- 
.  archies  of  Europe,  and  see  if  their  relative  attitude,  one 
to  the  other,  has  been  in  any  wise  altered  since  Pavia. 

Under  Charles  V.,  Spain  menaced  Europe  with  uni- 
versal dominion  ;  under  Philip  II.  and  Philip  III.,  she 
luid  lost  the  Low  Countries ,  under  Philip  IV.,  Portu- 
gal ;  under  Charles  II.,  Burgundy  and  Flanders.  His- 
tory offers  few  examples  of  such  rapid  decline. 

The  characters  of  these  sovereigns  may  be  summed 
up  £..  follows  :  Charles  V.  was  a  great  general  and  great 
king.  Philip  II.  was  a  king  only.  Philip  III.  and 
Pliilip  IV.  were  not  even  kings.  Charles  II.  could 
hardly  be  called  a  man.  This  dotard,  at  thirty-nine, 
passed  his  time  in  making  and  destroying  his  will. 
Choosing  rather  to  ally  his  house  with  France  than 
rJermany,  Charles  made  a  French  prince  his  heir.  It 
was  to  this  prince  that  Louis  XIV.,  in  embracing  him, 
made  use  of  the  memorable  words,  "  There  are  no 
longer  any  Pyrenees." 

It  was  then,  as  we  have  said,  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  of  French  supremacy  in  continental  affairs. 

In  our  continent  Spain  was  already  playing  a  sec- 
ondary part.  A  more  vigorous  hand  had  seized  the 
standard  of  discovery,  and  was  now  bearing  it  onward 
to  victory. 

It  had  gone  all  the  way  from  the  humble  Jesuit  mis- 
!<ion  at  the  foot  of  Luke  Superior  to  France,  tliat  tlie 


82 


Till-:    SITUATION    IN    A.D,    ](i72. 


greatest  river  of  America  was  as  good  as  found,  —  the 
greatest,  because  all  admitted  that  only  its  head  streams 
could  have  been  touched,  while  it  was  seen  that  its 
course  must  of  necessity  lie  on  one  or  the  other  side 
of  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico,  — toward  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico  or  the  Ver- 
milion  Sea.      But 
on  Avhich  side  they  . 
could  not  tell. 

Of  course  there 
were  two  opinions. 
Some  favored  one, 
some  tlie  other,  but 
either  belief  an- 
nounced the  river 
of  the  continent. 
Whoever  should 
first  plant  them- 
selves at  its  mouth, 
would  inevitably 
control  its  whole 
course.  And  so 
the  idea  took  root 
in  the  minds  of  the 
statesmen  and  geographers  of  the  time,  who  set  about 
trying  to  map  out  the  destin}'"  o^  the  future  empire. 

The  shrewdest  among  the  French  explorers  did  not 
believe  that  the  Mississip])i  and  Coloriido  could  be  the 
same,  or  that  the  great  river  flowed  into  the  South  Sea. 
Father  Allouez,  as  we  have  seen,  thought  otherwise. 
In  any  case  an  incentive  had  been  found  for  more  ear- 
nest effort,  with  more  definite  aims.  There  began  td 
be,  in  America,  a  really  national  question. 


So 


LOUIS  XIV. 


grew 


THE   SITUATION    IN   A.D.    1072. 


83 


So  it  was  that  stop  by  step  that  great  mysterious 
river  whicli  had  so  long  flowed  through  uieu's  brains, 
grew  at  hist  into  defiuiteuess,  though  still  waiting  for 
the  veil  of  centuries  to  be  lifted. 

So  far  America  had  been  the  orange  to  be  scjueezed 
hy  whoever  should  possess  it.  Louis,  like  the  rest,  no 
doubt  looked  more  to  the  revenue  he  lioj^ed  to  get 
from  New  France,  than  to  the  mere  glory  of  extending 
liis  dominions  in  that  quarter,  thougli  he  was  also  ambi- 
tious of  doing  this.  Yet  for  either  purpose  he  must 
have  suitable  agents,  while  his  political  aims  in  Europe 
would  be  furthered  by  crippling  the  English  and 
Spanish  coh>nies  in  America,  llie  English  were  to  be 
hemmed  in  on  the  seaboard,  while  the  Spaniards  v/ould 
Hiid  themselves  checked  from  advancing  beyond  the 
limits  they  already  occupied. 

When  the  royal  arms  of  France  were  raised  at  Sault 
St.  Marie,  New  England  was  jiushing  out  toward  the 
cast,  not  the  west.  No  English  could  be  found  west  of 
the  Hudson.  No  word  of  English  had  been  heard 
beyond  Lake  Ontario.  There  was  not  yet  a  Pennsyl- 
vania. Virginia  lay  east  of  the  Blue  Kidge  ;  the  Caro- 
linas  were  but  recently  settled ;  Florida  was  hardly 
more  than  a  Spanish  military  post. 

In  all  times  large  views  demand  large  men  for  their 
execution.  In  looking  about  him  for  a  governor  who 
ought  to  be  more  of  a  soldier  than  politician,  less  a 
courtier  than  a  man  of  action,  though  something  of 
both,  the  king's  eye  fell  upon  C/Ount  Frontenac,  whose 
rule  somewhat  resembled  that  of  his  august  master,  in 
the  attempted  concentration  of  all  power  in  himself. 

In  1672  Colbert,  the  prime  minister,  wrote  to  the 
iiitendant   of  Canada   that  his  majesty  wished  him  to 


84 


THE   SITUATION   IN    A.D.    1672. 


give  his  attention  to  the  discovery  of  the  South  Sea. 
The  wisli  being  the  same  as  a  command,  the  intendant 
sought  for  a  fitting  agent  to  cany  it  into  effect. 


COUNT  FRONTENAC. 

Louis  DE  BuADE,  Compte  de  Frontenac,  showed 
Httle  loss  of  physical  or  mental  vigor  outwardly,  though 
at  seventy  incessant  wear  and  tear  had  begun  to  tell  on 
a  constitution  and  will  of  iron.  His  eye  had  not  lost 
its  fire,  nor  his  step  its  elasticity,  but  a  deep  crease 
between  tlie  brows  gave  a  look  of  care  to  his  face,  and 
bespoke  the  i)ower  and  habit  of  concentrated  thought. 
His  complexion  was  florid,  his  moustache,  imperial,  and 
eyebrows,  white  as  snow.  Notwithstanding  a  certain 
cast  of  sensuality  there,  the  face,  if  not  noble,  had  that 
decided  distinction  about  it  which  impressed  the  be- 
holder with  the  idea  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  no 
ordinary  man.  Men  called  him  the  savior  of  Canada, 
fen'  he  had  been  sei-t  at  a  most  critical  moment  to 
retrieve,  if  possible,  the  blunders,  the  nicapacity  of  his 
predecessor,  Denonville.  Crafty,  supple,  acute,  he  was 
the  very  man  to  comprehend  Indian  diplomacy,  to  pene- 
trate or  baffle  Indian  duplicity,  or  by  a  politic  act  to 
disarm  the  hostility  of  these  wily  adversaries.  At  tlie 
same  time,  he  not  only  knew  when  and  where  to  strike 
the  most  deadly  blows,  but  how  to  draw  from  success 
in  war  the  most  important,  the  most  fruitful  results. 
The  Iroquois,  who  waged  incessant  and  destructive 
warfare  against  Canada,  called  him  the  great  Onontio. 
He  had  not  disdained  to  join  an  Indian  war-dance,  in 
which  he  was  the  first  to  strike  the  war-post  with  his 


Iiatcliet. 
sententi 
their  ow 
roasting 
Indians  : 
most  va] 


In  Loi 

man  lie  wi 

the  Missis 

of  himself, 

was  expec 

We  rem 

now  alway 

sionaries  a 

I'Jor  to  go 

Marquette, 
the  missioi] 
impatiently 
'juette  ]iad 
file  wish  t( 
lieart.    He 
'ind  liis  pri 
'liid   also   h( 
dwelt  in  pn 
'hings  he  w 
to  know  ho V 
'jeen  told  Jii 


COUNT   FRONT KN AC. 


85 


hatcliet.  He  liarangued  liis  savage  allies  in  their  own 
sententious  and  highly  imaginative  rhetoric,  imitated 
their  own  methods  of  war,  and  even  their  atrocities  in 
roasting  prisoners  alive,  —  to  the  end,  i)erhaps,  that  the 
Indians  might  admire  in  him  the  qualities  which  tiiey 
most  valued  in  themselves. 


JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE. 

"  Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  renowned  than  war.** 

In  Louis  Joliet,^  Talon,  the  intendant,-  found  the 
man  he  wanted.  Joliet  promised  to  see  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  before  he  came  back  to  give  an  account 
of  himself,  and  being  already  a  veteran  explorer,  no  less 
was  expected  of  him  thii  i  that  he  would  keep  his  word. 

We  remember  that  exploration  and  conversion  were 
now  always  to  go  hand  in  hand.  One  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries at  the  Lakes  was  therefore  named  by  his  supe- 
rior to  go  along  with  Joliet.  This  was  Father  James 
Marquette.  Father  Marquette  was  then  in  charge  of 
the  mission  at  Michilimackinac,  where  Joliet  found  him 
impatiently  expecting  his  coming,  for  ever  since  Mar- 
([uette  had  heard  the  Indians  talk  about  the  great  river, 
the  wish  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  it  had  lain  next  his 
heart.  He  prayed  the  Virgin  to  obtain  for  him  this  boon, 
and  his  prayer  had  been  granted  at  last.  Marquette 
had  also  heard  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  natives  who 
dwelt  in  prodigious  numbers  along  its  banks.  All  these 
things  he  was  anxious  to  see  with  his  own  eyes  in  order 
to  know  how  far  the  truth  would  agree  with  what  had 
been  told  him.     He  was  impatient  to  carry  tiie  gospel 


80 


JOLIET    AND   MAllQUETTE. 


7IA 


iinH)n<jf   all    tluvse  lost  tribes,  to  v^^iii  he  felt  himself 
called  l)y  special  aj)[)()intinent  of  Heaven. 

The  explorers  set  out  from  Mackinac ""^  in  May,  1073, 
in  two  canoes.     They  were  seven  men  in  all.     Coasting 

Lake  Michigan  *  till  they 
came  to  Green  Bay, 
they  entered  Fox  River, 
crossed  Lake  Winnebago, 
and  on  the  7tli  of  June 
reached  the  Mascoutin 
Village,  where  to  Mar- 
quette's great  joy  a  cross ^ 
was  standing  unharmed 
among  the  wigwams  to 
signify  that  Christians 
had  already  been  there. 

They  had  now  reached 
the  farthest  limit  of  pre- 
vious exploration.  So  far 
as  known  no  traveller  had 
gone  beyond  this  spot. 

At  this  place  the 
explorers  took  Indian 
guides.  Setting  out  again 
on  the  10th,  they  forced 
the  canoes  slowly  along 
through  shallow  waters, 
choked  with  wild  rice,  which  grew  so  tall  about  them 
as  almost  to  meet  above  their  heads,  till  they  coidd 
go  no  farther.  Then  lifting  the  canoes  from  the  water, 
the  explorers  b(^re  them  on  their  shoulders  across 
the  prairie  to  the  Wisconsin,  upon  which  they  again 
launched  them. 


marquj  tte's  map. 


JOLIKT   AND    MARQUETTE. 


87 


"  They  glided  calmly  down  the  traiKpiil  stream,  by 
islands  choked  with  trees  and  matted  witli  entangling 
grape-vines,  by  forests,  groves  and  prairies,  the  parks 
and  pleasure-grounds  of  a  prodigal  Nature  ;  by  thickets 
and  marshes  and  broad  bare  sandbars  ;  under  the  shad- 
owing trees,  between  whose  tops  looked  down  from 
afar  the  bold  brow  of  some  woody  bluff.  At  night  the 
l)ivouac  —  the  canoes 
inverted  on  the  bank, 
tlie  flickering  fire,  the 
meal  of  bison  ilesh  or 
venison,  the  evening 
jiipes,  and  slumber  be- 
neath the  stars ;  and 
when  in  die  morning 
they  embarked  again, 
the  mist  hung  on  the 
river  ]ike  a  bridal  veil, 
then  melted  before  the 
sun,  till  the  glassy 
water  and  the  languid 
woods  basked  breatli- 
less  in  the  sultry 
gl.ire." 

On  the  17th  of  June, 
Marquette   and   Joliet 

reached  the  site  of  Prairie  du  Chien.  Here  the  Wis- 
(3onsin  was  swallowed  up  in  the  broad  current  of  a 
mightier  stream  whose  dark  waters  swept  by  without 
pause,  like  something  conscious  of  its  power.  No  sooner 
had  they  looked  tlia.  ^ae  eager  explorers  knew  it  for 
the  object  of  their  hopes  and  prayers.  A  few  vigorous 
strokes  of  the  paddles,  and  they  were  floating  on  its 


WILD  RICE. 


88 


.lOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE. 


majestic  tide  lost  in  wonder  and  praise,  for  tlie  half  had 
not  ])een  told  them.  There  could  be  no  mistake.  The 
long-sought  Mississippi  had  been  found  again. 

With  cautious  strokes  and  watchful  eyes  the  canoes 
were  steered  southward.  Sometimes  sailing  in  the  dark 
shadows  of  overhanging  forests  where  danger  might 
lurk  unseen,  again  gliding  on  through  sunny  prairies, 
unfolding  vistas  of  quiet  beauty  to  the  view,  the  de- 
lighted explorers  kept  on  their  venturous  course.  It 
was  a  voyage  which  threw  around  them  the  charm 
of  an  exceeding  loveliness. 

Now  and  then  the  party  Avould  land  to  cook  a  hasty 
meal,  but  not  knowing  what  sort  of  people  they  might 
meet  with,  they  dared  not  sleep  on  shore.  So  at  night- 
fall the  canoes  were  anchored  off  in  the  stream.  For  a 
whole  week  they  floated  on  in  a  primeval  solitude.  No 
sign  of  the  hand  of  man  was  to  be  seen  about  them. 
No  human  voice  was  raised  in  welcome  or  in  warning. 
All  was  silent  as  at  the  creation.  Herds  of  bison,  graz- 
ing along  the  banks,  raised  their  shaggy  heads  to  gaze 
in  wonder  at  the  passing  travellers,  but  in  all  this  time 
nothing  in  human  form  appeared  to  molest  them. 

One  day  the  explorers  saw  footprints  upon  the  shore. 
Consulting  together,  they  resolved  to  follow  them. 
Leaving  the  canoes  in  charge  of  their  men,  Joliet  and 
Marquette  set  out.  The  path  led  to  a  village  whose 
inhabitants  sallied  forth  at  the  strange  white  men's 
halloo,  amazed  to  see  them  there.  The  chief  men 
offered  the  peace-pipe.  Marquette  asked  them  what 
people  they  were. 

"  We  are  the  Illinois,"  was  the  ready  reply.  Then 
the  two  Frenchmen  knew  they  were  among  friends^ 
who  would  tell  them  what  they  wanted  to  know  about 


.TOLTET    AND   MAIKJUKTTK. 


89 


tlie  river  below  —  what  people  tliey  were  likely  to  fall 
ill  with,  and  whether  friendly  or  not.  The  Illinois 
feasted  the  strangers,  and  spread  buffalo-rohes  for  them 
to  sleep  on,  but  urged  them  not  to  think  of  descending 
the  river  farther  on  account  of  the  demon  which 
guarded  the  passage. 

Going  back  to  their  comrades,  with  the  whole  village 
tor  an  escort,  the  explorers  pushed  oft"  again  on  their 
voyage.  First  they  passed  the  Illinois, 
with  its  remarkable  rocks.  Next  the 
Missouri,^  child  of  the  mountains, 
poured  its  turbid  flood  into  the  clear 
waters  of  th^  Mississippi  with  such 
impetuous  force  as  to  cut  its  way 
through  to  the  opposite  bank,  so  giv- 
ing its  own  dull  hue  to  the  whole 
stream. 

Getting  clear  of  all  dangers,  the 
adventurous  voyagers  next  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  or  Beautiful  River. 
Day  after  day  they  floated  on  between 
forests  of  cypress,  only  once  meeting 
with  Indians  by  the  way,  till  they  had 
descended  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  when 
suddenly  a  fleet  of  war  canoes  was  seen  putting  off  from 
the  shore  to  cut  them  off.  In  vain  Marcpiette  waved  the 
(-•alumet,^  which  the  Illinois  had  given  him  to  be  his  safe- 
guard, and  which  among  savages  is  the  symbol  of  peace. 
The  young  warriors  fitted  their  arrows  and  bent  their 
buws.  In  another  moment  the  explorers  would  have 
been  riddled  with  arrows,  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of 
the  elders  who  called  out  to  the  3^oung  men  to  stay 
their  hands.     With  these  the  French  now  held  a  parley, 


ILLINOIS. 


90 


JOLIET   AND   MAIigUETTE. 


and  liaviiig  made  known  their  pacific  intentions,  were 
suffered  to  land  and  were  kindly  treated. 

With  the  help  of  one  among  them  who  understood 
a  little  of  the  Illinois  tongue,  Mar([uette  was  able  to 
make  his  purpose  to  reach  the  sea  understood.  He 
now  learned  that  this  was  not  the  principal  town  of  the 
Arkansas  nation.  That  was  eight  or  ten  leagues  far- 
ther down  the  river.  So  the  next  day  the  Frencdnneii 
went  on  to  tl  greater  town,^  where  they  hoped  to  learn 
all  they  wisheti  to  know. 

Strangely  enough,  the  ex[)lorers  had  now  reached  the 
very  point  made  memorable  by  the  coming  of  De  Soto 


WAll  CANOE,   FROM   LA  UONTAN. 


a  century  and  a  half  earlier.  And  as  if  his  fate  had 
cast  a  spell  over  the  si)ot  where  they  stood  following 
the  course  of  the  great  river  with  their  eyes  till  it  was 
lost  in  the  distance,  neither  Joliet  nor  Marquette  was 
destined  to  pass  beyond  it. 

Here  the  Indians  gave  the  explorers  a  feast,  while 
holding  a  council  upon  the  question  whether  they  could 
or  could  not  proceed  with  safety.  In  return  the  whites 
distributed  gifts  among  the  Indians.  These  Indians 
had  little  food  except  corn,  of  which  they  raised  three 
crops  each  year.  In  addition  to  this,  they  gave  their 
visitors  dog's  flesh  to  eat,  as  a  mark  of  honorable  treat- 


IIM'llt. 

El  nop 
|tols  ai 
<»r  low 
river, 
known 
tirely  i 

would 

tliey     A 

li('()ple\ 

tii'o-ari 

kiunv    ] 

use  then 

made  tl 

fcrniidal 

Hot  Iiun 

there  W( 

•Such 

further 

illtjiourr 

distant. 
^Vdiikl  n 
ex|)editi( 
nski'd. 
vexed  (ji 
tioiis  poi 
It  is  e^ 
<J\vn  Avisj 
decision 
^)t  liis 
On  th( 
journey 


OLIKT   AND   MAlKiUETTK. 


91 


THE  CALUMET. 


mciit.  Althoiigli  they  liud  knives  and  liatclicts  of 
Kiirt)pciui  iiiiikis  mid  could  mould  rude  earthenware 
|)(ils  and  jars  to  eook  their  food  in,  these  people  waiv 
of  lower  condition  than  those;  who  lived  higher  uj)  the 
liver,  although  from  symmetry  of  form  they  were 
known  as  the  "handsome  men."  The  men  went  en- 
tiiely  nude  ;  tlie  women  wore  skins  al)out  their  loins. 

They  told  Marquette  tliat  the  people  lower  down 
would  never  let  him  pass  through  their  country  ;  that 
tliey  were  a 
lK'o[)lcwliohad 
lii(>-arms  and 
kiiijw  how  to 
use  them.  This 
made  them  so 

formidable  to  their  neighbors,  that  these  Arkansas  dared 
not  hunt  the  buffalo  in  that  country,  though  the  plains 
there  were  alive  with  them. 

Such  ill  reports  touching  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
further  progress  decided  the  explorers  to  turn  back, 
iiltliough  the  Indians  said  the  sea  was  only  ten  journeys 
distant.  They  were  too  few  to  fight.  Their  capture 
would  most  surely  frustrate  the  whole  purpose  of  the 
expedition.  All  felt  that  this  chance  should  not  be 
risked.  They  had  at  least  gone  far  enough  to  settle  the 
vexed  question  about  the  outlet  to  the  sea.  All  indica- 
tions pointed  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

It  is  evident  that  the  explorers  took  counsel  of  their 
own  wishes,  perhaps  of  their  own  fears,  in  making  their 
decision  to  go  back.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Joliet  had  not 
kept  his  promise  to  Talon. 

On  the  17th  of  July  the  explorers  began  their  long 
journey  homeward.     They   were   weeks    making   their 


92 


JOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE. 


way  back  to  the  Illinois,  into  which  they  turuecl  their 
canoes,  knowing  it  would  shorten  the  journey.  As- 
cending this  river  to  the  Indian  town  of  Kaskaskia,  the 
party  procured  guides  who  conducted  them  to  Lake 
Michigan. 


'  Louis  Joliet  had  studied  for  the 
priesthood,  which  he  renounced  to  be- 
come a  trader.  Talon  sent  him  to  Lake 
Superior  to  search  for  the  copper -mines 
of  which  the  French  heard  so  much. 
Though  uiiriucccssful  in  this,  Joliet 
collected  much  information  which  sub- 
sequently proved  of  service  to  his  em- 
ployers. Ue  made  a  map  showing  hio 
discoveries  at  the  time  of  his  trip  with 
Marquette,  who  also  made  the  one  in- 
serted in  the  text,  on  which  the  Missis- 
sippi is  called  River  of  the  Conception, 
though  Joliet,  on  his  map,  calls  it  Col- 
bert River,  after  the  celebrated  minister 
of  Louis  XIV. 

-'  Talon,  the  intendant,  was  one  of 
the  most  sagacious  advocates  of  the 
French  movement  into  the  Far  West, 
ne  wished  to  establish  a  French  port  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississipi'i,  to  checlj  the 
Spaniards. 

■i  Mackinac  is  the  shortening  of  the 
original  lengthy  word  which  is^  pro- 
nounced as  if  sjwUed  Mackinaw. 

*  Lak?;  Michigan  was  flrst  called 
Lake  of  the  Illinois.  This  name  often 
appears  on  maps  of  the  last  century, 
though  the  present  one  supersetled  it  in 
time.  It  is  not  nectlful  to  give  all  the 
different  titles  given  by  different  oxplor 
ers.    Their  name  is  legion. 


^  A  Cross.  Doubtleen  one  erected 
by  Fathers  Dablon  and  AUouez;  see 
preceding  chapter. 

«  Amono  Friends,  because  thoy  had 
articles  of  FrencH  make,  showing  tliem 
to  have  intercourse  with  French  traders. 
The  village  refe^^red  to  is  supposed  to 
have  been  at  the  mouth  of  the  De« 
Moines. 

'  The  Missouri  is  first  identiticil 
by  Marquette,  who  calls  it  Pekitaiioiii 
on  his  map.  The  Indians  told  him  that 
by  fallowing  it  he  might  go  to  tlie  nea 
refe.-ing  probably  to  the  Platte  and 
ColorauT  route  to  the  Gulf  of  California. 

8  The  Calumet,  or  peace-i>i])c. 
"Men  do  i^ot  pay  to  the  crowns  .mil 
sceptres  of  knw.a  the  honor  Indiaiii* 
pay  to  the  calumet;  it  seems  lo  be  th( 
god  of  i>eace  and  war,  the  arbiter  of  life 
and  death.  ^Jarry  it  about  you  and  nhow 
it,  „.id  you  can  march  fearlessly.  There 
is  a  caiumel  for  peace  and  one  for  war, 
distinguishetl  only  by  the  color  of  the 
feathers  with  which  they  are  adorned, 
red  lx?ing  the  sign  of  war.  They  uw 
them  also  for  settling  disputes,  strength- 
ening alliances,  and  speaking  to  stran 
gers."  —  Mdfi/Hette. 

»  The  Greater  Town,  accordini; 
lo  Marquette's  map,  was  then  on  tht 
cast  bank. 


THE   MAN   LA    SALLE. 


98 


THE    MAN    LA   SALLE. 


ImlianH 

tm 

be  the 

|B 

r  of  lift 

Jm 

nd  show 

WW. 

There 

1" 

for  war, 
r  (if  the 

P 

iuUininl 

mi 

LMu'V  UM 

Bl 

gll-L'llglll 

W4 

to  Htraii 

bI 

'* Eagles  fly  above,  but  sheep  flock  together." ~  SpanUh. 

The  Mississippi  liiid  now  been  struck  at  two  points. 
Its  course  had  been  explored  for  six  hundred  miles, 
o'liinpses  of  its  greatness  had  been  cauglit,  its  mysteries 
pnrtly  solved.  A  man  of  greater  mark  now  put  his 
hand  to  the  completion  of  what  Marquette  and  Joliet 
had  left  unhnished. 

K()l)ert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  ^  was  no  simple  explorer, 
liaving  some  little  education,  like  Joliet,  or  pious  mis- 
sionary, whose  sole  object  was  to  make  proselytes,  like 
Man^iiette. 

La  Salle  was  a  man  of  far  different  mould.  In  him 
tlie  man  of  brains,  of  ideas,  of  resources,  of  unbending 
will,  were  all  joined  in  one.  He  was  a  serious  man, — 
a  mail  of  heroic  patience,  whose  highest  qualities  shone 
fuitli  brightest  in  moments  of  supreme  trial.  Disaster, 
ciilunmy,  treachery,  disease,  assailed  by  turns,  but  could 
never  crush  his  indomitable  spirit.  Whether  he  stood 
alone  amid  the  wreck  of  his  projects,  or  was  confronted 
by  miforeseen  perils,  his  fortitude  never  forsook  liim. 
Although  rather  stern  than  indulgent  toward  his  men, 
there  was  that  in  him  wliich  commanded  respect  and 
iiljedience;  more.  La  Salle  did  not  desire.  He  was  the 
master-spirit  of  his  own  enterprises  —  tlie  originator  and 
exeentor  of  them  —  not  the  simi)le  agent  of  other  men's 
schemes.  From  a  study  of  the  man,  in  tlie  light  of 
what  he  aimed  to  do  and  what  he  actually  achieved, 
we  should  say  that,  "'  Where  there's  a  will  there's  a 
way,*'  was  the  inspiration  of  La  Salle's  efforts,  and 
imi(pie  maxim  of  his  career. 


94 


THE   MAN   LA   SALLE. 


But  T^a  Salle  had  his  (Irawl)acks  also.  Naturally 
thoughtful  aud  reserved  he  lived  too  much  apait,  in 
himself,  to  be  a  good  companion  in  the  wandering 
republic  of  which  he  was  the  head,  though  his  followers 
learned  to  look  up  to  him  if  they  could  not  love  him. 
He  could  not  unbosom  himself  to  his  inferiors,  nor 
could  they  understand  that  mixture  of  pride  and  reserve 

which     wrapped    liiin 


about  like  a  garment. 
What    they    took    for 
austerity     of     manner 
was  the  absor2)tion  of 
the    man    in     himself. 
Those  who  knew  him 
best  would    have    fol- 
lowed him  U)  the  end 
of  the  world,  but  La 
Salle    was    so    consti- 
tuted   that  few  con  id 
know  him.    Of  all  this 
La  Salle,  himself,  was 
unconscious.      His  re- 
sponsibilities were  too 
great,    his    cares    too 
many,  for  indulgence  in  trivial  things.     With  minds 
like  Louis  XIV.,  Ct)lbert  or  Frontenac,  the  case  was 
diflFerent.     La  Salle  impressed  them  as  no  ordinary  man 
could.     So  when  the  possibility  of  getting  control  of 
our  continent  by  stretching  a  chain  of   French  posts 
from  Quebec  to  the  St.  Lawrence  unfolded  itself  to  liis 
mind,  in  its  grandeur,  the  King  at  once  saw  in  La  Salle 
the  fittest  man  for  the  work.     And  La  Salle  knew  no 
such  word  as  fail. 


CAVKLIEU  UK    LA    SAI.I.K. 


)\ll 


li- 
1.1 
bis 
^vas 
ro- 
too 
too 
liiiuls 
\vas 
man 
ol  of 

0  l>i^ 
ISalU' 


96 


THE   MAN    LA    SALLE. 


La  Salle  was  one  of  those  who  in  the  beginning 
believed  the  Mississippi  flowed  into  the  Vermilion  Sea. 
If  we  may  put  faith  in  appearances,  his  original  idea 
was  not  so  much  to  descend  the  great  river  to  its  mouth, 
as  to  make  his  way  across  the  continent  to  the  great 
South  Sea,  and  so  to  reach  China  and  Japan.  7\nd  the 
name  of  La  Chine,^  which  La  Salle  gave  his  own  resi- 
dence, at  Montreal,  really  seems  an  indication  of  what 
was  then  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

This  is  instructive  as  showing  how  slowly  geographi- 
cal knowledge  of  the  westward  half  of  the  continent 
unfolded  itself. 

As  we  have  said,  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  was  a  man  of 
one  idea,  practical  in  some  things,  visionary  in  others, 
but  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  as  steadfast  as  fate. 

In  1GG(3,  at  twenty-three,  he  found  himself  in  Canada. 
He  toe'  up  his  residence  at  the  upper  end  of  the  island 
of  Montreal,  where  the  St.  Lawrence  is  broken  up  into 
rapids  which  to  this  day  bear  the  name  of  La  Salle's 
residence,  La  Chine. 

Here  La  Salle  quietly  spent  three  years,  hearing  tlie 
while  from  the  Indians  who  came  to  La  Chine,  all  sorts 
of  strange  stories  about  the  vast  region  toward  the 
setting  sun,  and  the  people  who  lived  in  it. 

We  have  seen  the  missions  already  firmly  established 
on  the  Great  Lakes.  Joliet  and  Marquette  liad  reached 
the  Mississippi  by  one  route  and  returned  by  another 
and  different  one,  leading  them  through  the  heart  of 
the  great  Illinois  nation,  to  whom  Marquette  believed 
himself  sj)ecially  called.  His  labors  among  this  peoi)le 
had  left  an  impression  highly  favorable  to  those  who 
might  come  after  him. 

It  was  from  the  Iroquois,  who  came  to  visit  him  at 


THE   MAN    LA    SALLE. 


y? 


La  Chine,  that  La  Salle  first  heard  of  the  Ohio.  The 
passion  for  discovery  seems  to  have  found  swift  and 
intense  development  in  him.  He  was  young,  ambitious 
and  eager  for  adventure.  La  Salle  was  only  twenty-six 
when  he  resolved  to  go  in  search  of  the  Ohio. 

Immediately  he  sold  La  Chine  to  procure  an  outfit. 
In  the  summer  of  16G9  he  set  out  for  the  Iroquois  coun- 
try where  we  lose  sight  of  him  altogether.  Yet,  while 
no  itinerar}^  of  his  journey  remains  extant,  his  claim  to 
have  discovered  the  Ohio  is  conceded  by  his  rival, 
Joliet. 

Meanwhile,  Frontenac,  that  man  of  action,  was  not 
idle.  He  was  bent  on  opening  the  direct  road  to  the 
western  lakes,  i)eaceably  if  he  could,  forcibly  if  he 
nuist,  but  at  any  rate  to  open  it.  To  this  end  he  now 
showed  the  Iroquois  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  them  by 
building  a  fort  at  Kingston,^  which  was  called,  in  his 
honor.  Fort  Frontenac.  This  post  gave  the  command 
of  Lake  Ontario  to  the  French.  It  was  at  once  a  check 
and  a  menace  to  the  Iroquois,  who  saw  the  mastery  of 
the  lakes  slipping  away  from  them  but  could  not  pre- 
vent it.  Through  his  favor  with  Frontenac,  La  Salle 
secured  from  the  king  a  grant  of  Fort  Frontenac,  which, 
in  liis  hands,  became  not  only  an  important  trading- 
post,  but  the  base  of  future  contemplated  discoveries. 
Here  La  Salle  brooded  over  the  projects  which  were  to 
make  him  famous  not  for  a  day,  but  for  all  time. 

For  ten  years  more  La  Salle  is  found  repairing  his 
fortunes,  maturing  his  plans,  acijuiring  information,  or 
studying  Indian  dialects.  The  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  to 
be  reached,  and  a  French  port  and  colony  established 
there  into  which  all  the  trade  of  the  river  should  How. 
Thus   the    Mississippi,  in   French  hands,  was  to  be  a 


98 


THE   MAX   LA    SALLP:. 


wedge  dividing  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  from  the  Span- 
iards in  New  Mexico.  Possessed  of  the  two  great 
waterways  of  the  continent  —  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississippi  —  France  was  to  take  the  first  phice  in 
America.  When  all  was  ready  La  Salle  laid  his  plans 
before  the  King. 

In  his  memorial  La  Salle  forcibly  coiiXrasts  the  barren 
soil,  dense  forests  and  harsh  cliniate  of  Canada,  with 
the  fertile  soil,  snnny  prairies  and  genial  climate  of  the 
West.  He  describes  it  as  being  a  country  possessed  of 
every  thing  requisite  for  planting  nourishing  colonies; 
and  as  one  thoroughly  familiar  with  it.  Its  native 
produci  .  its  abundance  of  fish  and  game,  its  pleasant 
streams,  are  all  dwelt  upon  without  the  exaggeration 
with  which  explorers  usually  embellish  their  reports. 
In  La  Salle's  view  the  facts  were  all-sufficient  for  his 
purpose. 

In  thus  seeking  the  enlargement  of  French  em[)ire  at 
the  expense  of  Spain,  La  Salle  had  found  a  congenial 
field  for  hi  talents  —  a  purpose  which  lifts  him  above 
the  rank  ol  a  mere  explorer  or  trader.  It  is  true  he 
expected  to  find  riches  and  honor  for  himself,  yet  these 
were  things  which,  of  necessity,  hinged  upon  the  suc- 
cess of  the  scheme  as  a  whole,  not  of  a  part. 

Imj)ressed  by  La  Salle's  representations,  Louis  granted 
him  a  i)atent  for  those  regions  he  proposed  to  discover, 
with  }»ower  to  build  forts  and  govern  therein  for  the 
term  of  live  years.  La  Salle  was  to  do  all  this  at  his 
own  cost,  looking  to  his  monopoly  of  trade  to  reimburse 
himself.  So  he  set  about  borrowing  money  right  and 
left.  Never  generous,  the  King  limited  himself  to  giviiif; 
\j'd  Salle  the  op])ortuuity  he  asked  for. 

While   in   Paris,  on   the  business  of  the  patent,  La 


THE   iMAN   LA   SALIiK. 


99 


Salle  became  acquainted  with  an  Italian  officer,  named 
i'onty,  who  afterward  served  him  with  rare  fidelity  in 
his  various  expeditions.  Upon  Iai  Salle  s  return  to 
Quebec,  Father  I.ouis  IIennc[)iu,  a  Franciscan  friar, 
sought  and  obtained  leave  to  join  him.  And  thus  mat- 
ters stood  in  September,  1G78. 


1  I)E  T-A  Palle:  literally  "Of  the 
Hall."  Horn  at  Rouen,  Kiaiice,  1643 : 
Cftvelier  is  the  family  name. 

2  La  Chine  (China).    Name  of  vil- 


lage and  rapidA  at  the  head  of  the  island 

of  Montreal. 

3  Kingston,  on  the  north  shore  of 
Lake  Ontario,  near  it.-*  outlet. 


LA   SALLE,   PRINCE   OF   EXPLORERS. 

La  Salle's  plans  included  the  following  details.  A 
vessel  had  been  built  at  Frontenac  for  the  navigation 
of  Lake  Ontario,  so  doing  away  with  the  tedious  canoe 
voyages  of  the  past.  This  brought  the  western  mis- 
sions one  step  nearer  Montreal.  Next,  the  Niagara 
liiver  was  to  be  seized  upon  and  held,  as  Frontenac  had 
l>een,  by  building  a  fort  at  its  mouth.  The  next  step 
would  be  the  construction  of  a  vessel,  above  the  falls, 
to  navigate  the  western  lakes.  With  this  done  the  real 
point  of  departure  for  the  Mississipi)i  would  be  removed 
to  l^ake  Michigan,  and  the  delay  and  fatigue  of  previous 
expeditions  saved  to  the  present  one.  Such  were  the 
essential  features  of  La  Salle's  plan. 

Accordingly  La  Salle  set  about  building  the  fort  .at 
Niagara  1  and  the  vessel  above  the  falls,  during  the 
winter  of  1679.  In  a  word,  he  was  perfecting  his  com- 
imuiications  as  he  went  iilong. 

In  August  La  Salle  einbai'ked  on  board  his  new 
vessel  and  hoisted  sail.     It  was  the  first  which  had  ever 


100 


I. A    SAIil.R,    PRINCE   OK    KXI'LORKHS. 


ploughed  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie.  In  due  season  he 
readied  Michiliinaekinae,  wheiiee,  after  some  stay,  lie 
again  sailed  for  Green  Bay.  Here  La  Salle  landed  his 
people  and  goods.  The  Grillin  vvt>s  sent  baek  to 
Niagara,  for  the  supjdies  La  Salle  wanted,  with  order 
to  return  without  delay  to  the  rendezvous.  With  four- 
teen men  La  Salle  then  started  in  canoes  on  his  journey 
to  the  Mississippi. 

Various  adventures  signalled  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
plorers along  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  Avhicli  had  been  chosen  for 
the  final  point  of  departure.  The  autumn  season  was 
well  advanced.  Already  the  north  wind  blew  keen  and 
cold  across  the  lake.  The  canoes  were  tossed  aboiit 
on  a  stormy  sea,  which  broke  with  violence  against 
the  inhospitable  coast,  threatening  sliipwreck  if  they 
approached  it.  Often  the  canoes  woidd  be  swamped  in 
the  surf  when  the  rising  sea  made  it  dangerous  to  kee[) 
the  lake.  Often  the  explorers  threw  themselves  on  the 
frozen  ground  at  night,  wet  to  the  skin  nnd  famishing 
with  hunger. 

Reaching  the  St.  Joseph,  La  Salle  set  his  men  to 
work  building  a  fort,  while  he  anxiously  waited  the 
coming  of  Tonty,  who  had  been  ordered  to  join  him  at 
this  place.  At  last  Tonty  came.  Winter  liad  now  set 
in.  In  the  first  days  of  December  the  united  party 
paddled  up  the  St.  Joseph,  crossed  over  the  portage  to 
the  Kankakee,  descended  it  to  the  Illinois,  reaching  at 
length  the  great  Illinois  town,^  numbering,  by  actual 
count,  four  hundred  and  sixty  lodges. 

To  their  great  disappointment  the  town  was  deserted, 
all  the  Illinois  liaving  gone  to  Inint  tlie  buffalo,  as  their 
custom  was  at  this  season  of  the  year.     It  was  a  heavy 


LA   SALLE,   PKINCE   OF   EXPLOREKS. 


101 


J 


l)low  to  \a\  Salk',  wlio  liiid  expected  to  get  j^nides  ami 
ii  supi)ly  of  food  liore,  as  well  as  to  recruit  his  men. 
'I'lie  explorers  however  obtained  a  sui)ply  by  opening 
the  caehea^  in  which  the  Illinois  kejjt  their  winter  store. 

Somewhere  below  Peoria  Lake,  \j,\  Salle  fell  in  with 
the  Illinois,  who  told  hi'n  all  the  f;|,bles  they  could 
invent  in  order  to  j)revent  his  going  on,  fo  ■  it  seems 
they  had  some  inkling  his  doing  so  would  be  prejudicial 
to  them  in  the  future. 

The  Mississi[)£)i,  they  said,  was  beset  by  men  of  fierce 
aspect  who  would  kill  them  all,  its  w.aters  infested  with 
serpents,  alligators  and  like  monsters  lying  in  wait  to 
devour  them,  while  the  river  itself  finally  plunged  into 
a  raging  Avliirlpool  in  which  they  and  their  canoes 
would  be  swallowed  up. 

Although  La  Salle  treated  these  silly  tales  with  the 
contempt  they  deserved,  they  took  effect  upon  his  men, 
six  of  whom  deserted  on  the  spot.  The  explorers  win- 
tered among  these  Illinois  in  a  fort  which  La  Salle 
significantly  named  Crevecoeur.* 

The  name  tells  its  own  story.  On  the  lakes  they  had 
been  nearly  drowned.  On  the  march  they  had  often 
gone  hungry,  La  Salle  with  the  rest.  Treason  was  with 
iiim  in  his  own  camp,  danger  in  that  of  the  Illinois. 
His  own  men  had  tried  to  poison  him.  And  now,  to 
cap  the  climax  of  misfortune,  no  word  had  come  of  the 
Griffin^  —  the  Griffin  on  which  hung  all  hope  of  suc- 
cessfully continuing  their  search. 

But  nothing  could  shake  the  resolve  of  La  Salle. 
Sending  Father  Hennepin  to  explore  tlie  lower  course 
of  the  Illinois,  the  chief  left  Tonty  in  charge  of  Fort 
Crevecoeur,  while  he  himself  set  out  for  Frontenac  in 
order  to  learn  what  had  become  of  the  Griffin,  and  bring 


102 


LA   SALLE,    rillXCE   OF   EXPLOllKltS. 


buck  the  things  lie  must  have  before  it  woiikl  be  pos- 
sible to  stir  from  Fort  ('revee(eur  again. 

We  need  not  follow  him  on  this  remarkable  journey, 
itself  no  mean  exploit. 

La  Salle  had  not  yet  renehed  the  iMississip[)i,  In 
August,  lOHO,  he  again  left  Montreal  with  this  object. 
Again  he  made  his  way  to  the  Illinois  village.  This 
time  heaps  of  charred  and  blackened  rubbish,  strewed 
with  mangled  bodies,  met  his  eyes.     During  his  absence 


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INDIAN    WAMPUM   BELT. 


the  Irocjuois  had  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon  the 
Illinois,  as  already  they  had  done  upon  the  Hurons. 

Where  was  the  faitliful  Tonty  ?  What  had  become 
of  him?  After  La  Salle's  departure,  his  men  rose 
against  Tonty,  plundered  the  fort  of  what  was  worth 
taking,  demolished  it,  and  went  off  in  a  body,  leaving 
Tonty  to  shift  for  himself. 

But  where  was  he?  La  Salle  found  Crevecoeur  in 
ruins,  and  the  place  a  solitude. 

In  despair  La  Salle  searched  the  river  to  its  mouth, 
so  reaching  the  Mississippi  at  last,  but  without  finding 
the  least  trace  of  his  lieutenant.  On  every  side  fate 
seemed  conspiring  for  his  defeat. 


LA   SALLK,    pi:  !  NCI-:   OF    KXl'lJ  UiHKS. 


10:5 


Still  imdaiiiitt'd,  for  the  tiiird  liiiu*  La  Salle  scl  diit. 
ill  tlu!  autumn  of  ItlJSl.  lu  a  woudi'il'ul  niaiiiicr  T«nity 
liatl  made  his  escajK!  tVoni  the  Irocjuois,  and  rcjuincd  his 
chief  oil  the  lakes.  This  time  the  expedition  passed 
throuoh  the  C'hieago  Kiver  to  the  Illinois,  and  thence 
down  to  tlio  Mississippi,  which  was  reached  on  the  ('>th 
of  February. 

After  a  short  stay  here  the  little  lleet  of  canoes 
resumed  the  long  voyage  before  them.  On  the  -Uh, 
the  explorers  landed  near  the  Third  Chickasaw  IMuff 
to  hunt.  Here  they  built  a  stockade  which  was  called 
Fort  Prudhoinme.*' 

Few  incidents  marked  tlu^  passage  of  the  explorers 
through  the  countries  of  the  Arkansas,  Tensas"  and 
Natchez  nations,  till  the  Frenchmen  reached  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Quinipissas,  when  they  were  shot  at 
from  the  canebrakes  along  the  banks,  though  without 
receiving  any  hurt. 

Knowing  he  was  among  a  multitude  of  foes,  La  Salle 
[)iudently  refrained  from  returning  the  fire. 

On  the  bth  of  April,  the  explorers  found  the  river 
branching  out  before  them  in  three  streams.  Which  to 
take,  they  knew  not.  That  there  should  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  La  Salle  took  the  westernmost  himself,  Tonty 
the  middle,  and  another  the  eastern  branch.  Presently 
some  one  dipped  up  a  cu[)ful  of  water  to  drink.  It 
proved  to  be  brackish  to  the  taste.  La  Salle  knew  now 
he  was  nearing  his  goal. 

At  hist  the  canoes  glided  past  the  outermost  point  of 
low,  reedy  land,  out  upon  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Gulf. 

Landing  not  far  above  the  mouth  of  the  river,  La 
Salle  caused  the  arms  of  France  to  be  set  up  at  that 
place,  and  then  and  there,  on  the  ninth  day  of  A[)ril, 


104 


LA   HALLE,    PKINCE   OF    EXPLOIIEUS. 


1082,  he  took  formal  i)ossession  of  tlie  country  watort'd 
by  tlie  Mississippi.  It  was  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV. 
that  he  did  so,  in  whose  lionor  La  Salle  declared  the 
name  of  this  vast  acipiisition  to  be  Louisiana. 

Yet  in  no  long  time  we  iind  Louis  writing  with  his 
own  hands  words  like  these :  "  Like  you," —  he  is  ad- 
dressing M.  de  La  Barre,^  —  "I  am  persuaded  that  the 
discovcy  of  the  Sieur  de  La  Salle  is  very  useless;  and 
it  is  necessary  hereafter  to  prevent  similar  enterprises 
which  can  have  no  other  result  than  to  debauch  tlu- 
people  by  the  hope  of  gain,  and  to  diminish  the  revenue 
from  the  beaver." 


'  FonT  AT  NlAOAHA,  on  the  east  Hide 
of  Niagara  Uivor,  "  a  little  below  the 
raountain-ridgcof  Lcwiston;"  caiue<iito 
possession  of  United  States,  1796. 

*  Great  Illinois  Town.  First 
known  to  the  whites  as  Kaskaskia  (see 
chapter"  Joliet  and  Marqnetle") ;  its  site 
corresponds  with  the  village  of  Utica, 
on  the  Chicago  and  R.  I.  Railway,  Ave 
miles  cast  of  La  Salle. 

3  Cacqes,  French  for  hiding-places. 
The  word  is  naturalized  in  the  West. 
A  pit,  or  Indian  barn,  in  which  grain, 
etc.,  was  stored.  The  custom,  universal 
among  the  Indians,  was  adopted  by 
white  hunters  and  traders  in  their  expe 
ditions. 

«  CRfevECCEUB,  French,  broken- 
hearted. 

6  The  Griffin  should  have  brought 
back  cables,  anchors,  sails,  etc.,  for  a 
vessel  to  be  built  on  the  Illinois,  in 
which  Ln  Salle  purposed  sailing  down 
to  the  Gulf.    Thouijh  the   vessel   was 


built,  the  purpose  came  to  naught  for 
reasons  given  in  the  text. 

"  Fort  rRuuiioMME  is  on  early 
maps.  So  named  for  one  of  La  SuIIi'h 
men  who  wandered  away  and  was  lost 
in  the  woods.  Lu  Salle  left  u  few  men 
here  to  await  his  return. 

^  Tensas.  The  customs  of  these 
peopfe  were  identical  with  those  de 
scribed  under  the  caption  of  "Florida 
Indians,"  as  seen  by  De  Soto's  men, 
which  see.  They  kept  a  sacred  lire 
burning.  (Refer  to  legend  of  Pecos, 
New  Mexico  Indians,  for  analogy  of  ciin 
toms  in  this  respect.)  Tensas  ('ounty, 
La.,  was  the  home  of  these  Indians.  La 
Salle  also  visited  the  Natchez  town,  near 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Natchez, 
where  be  saw  the  same  religious  rites 
performed  as  among  the  Tensas. 

*  De  La  Karre  had  succeeded  Fron 
tenac  as  governor  of  Canada.  He  was 
La  Salle's  enemy. 


PISCOVEKV    OF   THE    UlTEIl   MISSISSU'PI. 


105 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  UPPER   MISSISSIPPI. 

It  will  be  rtinonibered,  that,  when  Lu  Salle  found 
himself  so  unfortunately  stopped  among  the  Illinois,  his 
active  mind  was  piomi)tly  casting  about  for  something 
to  be  achieved  elsewhere.  This  object  he  found  in  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  which  he  determined  should  be 
explored  in  his  absence,  so  interlocking  his  own  dis- 
coveries with  those  of  Joliet  and  Marcjuette.  Two  of 
his  people  were  accordingly  sent  to  perform  this  duty, 
with  whom  went  Father  Hennepin,^  the  Franciscan  mis- 
si(jnary  before  spoken  of. 

The  party  set  out  from  Fort  Crevecojur  on  the  last 
day  of  February,  1680,  while  at  the  same  time  La  Salle 
was  stprting  northward  for  Lake  Ontario. 

As  historian  of  the  expedition,  Ileiniepin's  vanity  has 
led  him  to  claim  the  leadership  for  himself,  while  he 
accuses  La  Salle  of  meaning  to  get  rid  of  him,^  in  the 
same  breath.  We  know,  however,  from  La  Salle  that 
neither  is  true.  La  Salle  was  much  too  good  a  judge  of 
character  not  to  see  through  the  friar  after  so  long  trial 
of  him,  though,  knowing  him  to  be  capable,  he  gave  him 
the  chance  of  being  useful.  For  the  expedition  itself, 
it  is  certain  La  Salle  had  it  much  at  heart.  Touching 
Hennepin's  narrative.  La  Salle  dryly  says  the  friar 
"spoke  more  according  to  his  wishes  than  what  he 
knew,"  or,  in  the  familiar  phrase,  was  in  the  liabit  of 
drawing  on  his  imagination  for  his  facts. 

Hennepin  himself  seems  to  have  been  that  singular 
anomaly,  seldom  met  with  in  real  life,  a  brave  braggart, 
whose  self-conceit  and  arrogant  self-assertion  stand  forth 
in  strong  contrast  with  the   modesty  and   patience  al- 


106 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE    IPPEK   MlSSISSirPI. 


ways  shown  by  La  Salle  when  he  is  speaking  of  his 
own  aehievenients.  And  it  is  further  characteristic  of 
the  two  men,  that  while  one  felt  lie  cotild  afford  to  wait 
for  time  to  do  him  justice,  the  other  sought  the  chea[) 
glory  to  be  had  by  sounding  his  own  praise  abroad,  even 
when  exi)osure  was  certain  to  follow.  So  tiiat  nothing 
Hennepin  has  written  can  be  accepted  as  true,  without 
other  evidence  to  substantiate  it.  The  more  is  the 
pity  !  But  the  exaggerations  of  all  our  early  chronicles 
show  that  they  were  penned  by  men  inlluenced  by  the 
passions  or  rivalries  of  the  time,  often  so  distorting  "'hat 
is  true  as  to  make  it  fit  the  particular  end  they  may  have 
had  in  view.  To  this  lamentable  want  of  integrity  may 
be  attributed  the  fact  that  history  has  so  often  to  be 
re-written. 

For  six  weeks  the  explorers  plied  their  paddles  against 
the  current  of  the  Mississippi  unmolested.  One  day 
when  they  had  drawn  their  canoe  on  shore  to  repair  it, 
the  Frenchmen  were  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  war 
party  of  Sioux  ^  —  the  very  people  of  all  others  whom 
they  most  wished  to  avoid. 

In  a  moment  the  whites  were  made  prisoners.  The 
scowling  looks  and  threatening  gestures  of  their  cap- 
tors boded  them  no  good.  Hennepin  proffered  tlie 
peace-pipe.  It  was  snatched  from  his  hand.  When  he 
began  muttering  prayers  aloud,  the  Indians  angrily 
signed  to  him  to  be  silent,  thinking  he  was  preparing 
some  charm  to  overpower  tliem  with,  but  they  let  him 
chant  the  same  prayers,  he  says,  thinking  there  could 
be  no  sorcery  or  medicine  in  soiig.  Presently  the  Sioux 
began  their  homeward  journey,  thus  making  it  clear  to 
the  Frenchmen  that  their  future  discoveries  must  be 
made  as  captives. 


Ii 

St.  J 

the 

of  h 

Siou 

Ih 

to  ai 

they 

the  S 

In 

wiien 

annua 

the   t] 

with  t: 

oners' 

ing  til 

iiasteni 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE    UPPEU   MISSISSIPPI. 


107 


111  nineteen  days  the  party  landed  near  the  site  of 
St.  PauL^  From  here  the  trail  was  strnck  k'ading  to 
the  Sionx  vilhiges,  wliieh  were  reached  after  live  days 
of  hard  marching  and  harder  usage  at  the  hands  of  the 
Sioux  warriors. 

Here  the  prisoners  were  separated,  IIennei)in  going 
to  an  aged  chief  who  adopted  him  as  his  own  son.  So 
they  passed  the  winter  among 
the  Sioux. 

In  the  following  summer, 
when  the  Sioux  went  on  their 
annual  buffalo  hunt,  they  took 
the  three  Frenchmen  along 
with  them.  This  was  the  pris- 
oners' opportunity  for  regain- 
ing their  liberty,  and  they 
hastened  to  make  use  of  it. 
La  Salle  had  promised  to  send 
word  of  himself  to  them  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin, 
and  they  knew  he  would  not 
fail  them.    Telling  the  Sioux 

their  friends  were  coming,  loaded  with  gifts,  the  greedy 
Sioux  were  easily  induced  to  let  Hennei)iii  and  one 
other  go  down  the  river  to  meet  them  alone  and  un- 
guarded. One  Frenchman  remained  behind  with  the 
Sioux  as  a  hostage  for  the  others. 

The  two  whites  began  their  descent  of  the  river, 
carrying  their  canoe  round  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,^ 
to  which  Father  Hennepin  gave  this  name,  till,  after 
many  adventures.  Lake  Pepin  *^  was  reached. 

To  their  consternation,  the  travellers  were  overtaken 
at  this  point  by  u  party  of  Sioux  who  had  followed  their 


mOVS.  CUtEF. 


108 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE   UPPER   MISSISSIPPI. 


prisoners  so  closely,  as  hardly  to  lose  sight  ol'  them, 
and  now  pnslied  on  ahead  to  the  Wisconsin.  Finding 
neither  traders '  nor  goods  there,  as  they  had  been  led 
to  expect,  the  Sionx  paddled  hack  again  in  had  hnmor  to 
tlie  phice  where  the  whites  had  remained.  After  being 
sonndly  rated  for  the  cheat  they  had  practised,  the 
nnlncky  whites  were  forced  to  turn  about  and  go  back 
ajjain  as  thev  came. 

After  some  longer  stay  among  the  Sioux,  the  captives 
were  found  by  some  French  traders  wlio  had  made  their 

way  from  Lake  Superior, 
through  the  Sioux  country, 
to  the  Mississippi.  Hearing 
of  the  three  white  men, 
while  on  the  way,  these 
traders  had  kept  on  from 
village  to  village,  till  tliey 
reached  the  one  in  which 
Hennepin  ;  nd  his  comi){ui- 
ions  were  detained,  and  ran- 
somed them  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  savages. 
At  the  head  of  the  rescuing  party  was  one  Du  Lhiit, 
or  Duluth,  for  whom  the  city  of  Duluth  is  named,  as 
Lake  Pepin  is  also  said  to  have  been  named  for  another 
of  this  party.  Thus,  in  St.  Anthony's  Falls,  Lake 
Pepin,  and  Duluth  we  have  a  group  of  names  com- 
memorating the  men  of  La  Salle's  exploring  [)arty,  as 
well  as  the  exploration  itself. 

All  the  Frenchmen  now  returned  to  the  Sioux  vil- 
lages at  Mille  Lac  together. 

They  finally  made  their  way  back  to  the  French  set- 
tlements by  the  Wisconsin   and  Green  Bay  route,  as 


SIOUX  TOTEM. 


DISCOVERY^    OF    TIIK    UIM'KK    MISSISSIPPI. 


109 


Marquette  had  done  before  them,  and  the  Sioux  ^  also 
lor  many  generations  had  travelled  to  the  great  lake. 


'  I-'atiier  Louis  Hennepin,  a  lie- 
collet,  or  Franciscan  friar,  publiwhed  liis 
Pcsrn'jAiou  of  Louisiana,  lOS:!,  %vilh 
mibseijuuut  eilitious,  under  various  titlon, 
Iti'iT,  101)8,  etc.  While  his  exaggeratiouH 
niiikc  it  iliflicuit  to  separate  what  is  true 
from  what  is  false,  yet  his  writings  are 
an  iiulispuusabic  part  of  the  History  of 
ibu  Great  West. 

•  Get  Iliu  OF  Him,  by  exposing  liiiu 
to  be  scalped  among  hostile  Indians. 

s  Sioux,  properly  Dacotahs,  may  be 
nominally  divided  in  two  great  bodies  by 
llie  Mississippi  llivcr.  Those  living  on 
the  cast  side  were  Eastern  Sioux,  those 
on  tiie  west.  Western  Sioux.  Their 
country  reached  from  the  westernmost 
tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Su- 
l)crior.  In  power,  they  were  to  the  West 
what  the  Iroquois  were  to  the  East  —  the 
ecourge  of  weaker  nations.  The  Sioux 
ceded  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississipi)i 
to  the  United  States,  in  1837,  living 
on  the  St.  Peter's  till  the  massacres  of 
lSOJ-03  drove  them  thence. 


*  St.  Paul,  nine  miles  below  the 
Falls  of  St.  .Vnthony,  capital  city  of 
Minnesota,  settled  about  1640;  Uenjamiii 
Gervais,  the  lirst  settler. 

^  P'alls  op  St.  Anthony.  St.  An 
thony  of  Padua  was  Hennepin's  patron 
saint.  The  Sioux  were  in  the  habit  of 
hanging  buffalo-robes  on  the  trees  as 
offerings  to  the  spirit  of  the  waters. 
Minneapolis  is  the  growth  of  the  water 
power  of  tliese  falls,  having  increased 
from  -2,504  in  1800,  to  40,000  in  18S(>, 

«  Lake  Pepin,  a  broadening  of  the 
Mississippi, -about  twenty-tive  miles  long. 
There  is  a  pretty  Indian  legend  con- 
nected with  Maiden's  liocU  in  the  lake, 
told  in  Mrs.  Eastman's  Legends  of  the 
Sioux. 

7  La  Salle  assorts  that  the  Jesuits 
told  the  men  he  had  engaged  to  do  this 
that  the  friar  had  been  killed,  so  pre- 
venting them  from  going. 

8  TuE  Sioux  ALSO.  Recall  the  fact 
stated  earlier,  that  Marquette  fell  in  with 
the  Sioux  at  or  about  Greeu  Bay. 


THE   LOST   COLONY:   ST.   LOUIS  OF  TEXAS. 

Thus,  in  1682,  La  Salle  had  secured  an  empire  for 
France,  and  at  last  found  a  legitimate  field  for  his  own 
ambition.  His  Louisiana  comprised  every  thing  be- 
tween the  Alleghenies  and  Rio  Grande,  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  Hudson's  Bay.  Upon  opening  the  maps 
of  the  time  we  find  tlie  English  crowded  into  the  com- 
paratively narrow  limits  extending  from  the  eastern 
slopes  of  the  Appalachian  range  to  the  sea,  the  Span- 
iards occuj)ying  those  between  the  Rio  Grande  and 
Gulf  of  California,  while  the  whole  great  heart  of  the 


110 


THK    LOST    COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 


continent,  including  portions  of  Carolina  and  Florida, 
with  its  magnificenf  system  of  waterways,  is  coveretl 
by  the  names  New  France  and  Louisiana. 

But  La  Salle  himself,  the  man  of  large  and  luminous 
views,  had  now  reached  the  high-water-mark  of  his 
achievements.  The  wave  which  owed  its  impetus  to 
his  active  brain,  expended  its  force  with  his  life. 

Upon  his  return  vo3'age  up  the  Mississippi  the  ex- 
plorer fell  sick.  He  was  taken  to  Fort  Prudhomme, 
the  one  built  by  his  order  on  the  wa}-  down,  where  he 
lay  for  months  a  helpless  invalid,  chafing  under  the 
inaction  thus  forced  upon  him.  As  soon  as  he  felt 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  journey,  La  Salle  proceeded 
on  to  Michilimackinac,  where  he  was  no  sooner  arrived 
than  he  set  about  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  trading- 
post  on  the  Illinois,  in  room  of  the  one  his  treacher- 
ous followers  had  destroyed  in  Lis  absence. 

This  was  to  be  his  half-way  house  to  the  Mississippi. 
Here  he  trusted  to  gather  a  colony  alike  capable  of 
drawing  to  itself  all  the  trade  of  a  vast  tributary  region, 
as  of  defending  itself  and  his  allies,  the  Illinois,  against 
the  incursions  of  the  Iroquois. 

But  La  Salle's  greater  project  for  securing  the  results 
of  his  discoveries,  by  planting  a  colony  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississi})[)i,  henceforth  looked  to  reaching  that  point 
by  sea  and  not  by  land.  To  transport  every  thing  over- 
land from  Quebec  to  the  Gulf  was  of  course  imprac- 
ticable. No  one  knew  this  better  than  La  Salle  himself, 
yet  he  also  foresaw  the  importance  of  kee[)ing  the  way 
to  Canada  open  if  the  colony  at  the  Gulf  was  to  thrive. 
To  this  end  the  fort  on  the  Illinois,  and  that  at  the 
Chickasaw  Bluff,  were  but  incidents. 

After  establishing  himself  strongly  on  the   Illinois, 


La 
befr 
Ii 

coui 

COllt 

tlie  1 

woul 

neigl 

i'oseti 

tiie  1^ 

treatr 

the   c 

mines, 

not  n 

J^rovin 

The 

to  can 

the  tw 


THE    LOST   COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS    OF   TEXAS. 


Ill 


Lii  vSalle  went  to  F'raiice  in  order  to  lay  his  projects 
before  the  King. 

In  consecjuence  of  a  rupture  with  Spain  he  found  the 
court  well  disposed  to  listen  to  his  proposals.  These 
contemplated  the  building  of  a  fort  sixty  leagues  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  which  La  Salle  assumed 
would  draw  around  it,  as  to  a  common  centre,  all  the 
neighbor  tribes.  Gifts  and  good  usage  had  already  dis- 
posed these  tribes  favorably  toward  the  French,  while 
tlie  Spaniards  had  already  alienated  them  by  harsh 
treatment.  With  their  help  La  Salle  asserted  that 
the  conquest  of  New  Biscay,^  with  its  rich  silver- 
mines,  would  be  an  easy  matter,  because  there  were 
not  more  than  four  hundred  Spaniards  in  all  that 
province. 

The  plan  met  instant  favor.  To  enable  La  Salle 
to  carry  it  out,  four  vessels  were  given  him  instead  of 
the  two  he  asked  for.  A  naval  officer  by  the  name 
of  Beaujeu  was  assigned  to  command  them  at  sea.  La 
Salle  set  himself  to  work  with  liis  usual  energy.  Sol- 
diers, i)riests  and  colonists,  arms,  munitions  and  stores, 
were  provided  in  suflicient  number  or  quantity  to  put 
the  colony  on  its  feet  at  once. 

Long  before  the  ships  were  ready  to  sail  from  Roche- 
fort,  La  Salle  and  Beaujeu  had  quarrelled.  Beaujeu 
overrated  himself,  and  underrated  La  Salle.  Often 
Ijctniyed  by  those  he  trusted  most,  La  Salle's  naturally 
suspicious  nature  led  him  to  distrust  every  one,  above 
all  Beaujeu,  who  constantly  ridiculed  him  and  his 
schemes  to  his  friends.  So  La  Salle's  reserve  gave 
ofl'eiice  to  Beaujeu,  who  grew  sulky,  and  was  at  no 
pains  to  conceal  his  dislike  for  the  whole  afTair.  Here 
then  at  the  very  outset  the  seeds  of  disaster  were  sowed. 


112        THE   LOST   COLONY  :   ST.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 


It  WHS  under  such  unpromising  conditions  that  the  fleet 
set  sail  in  July,  1G84,  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Three  of  the  vessels  reached  St.  Domingo  in  two 
months,  with  a  large  number  of  sick  on  board,  of  whom 
La  Salle  himself  was  one.  The  fourth  had  been  taken 
at  sea  by  Spanish  buccaneers,  thus  depriving  the  colo- 
nists of  the  tools  and  provisions  with  which  she  was 
loaded. 

Upon  La  Salle's  recovery  from  what  came  near  prov- 
ing a  fatal  illness,  the  fleet  again  put  to  sea,  though  it 
was  now  November,  and  much  precious  time  had  been 
lost. 

Steering  westward  into  the  Gulf,  they  made  their 
landfall  on  New  Year's  Day,  but  when  La  Salle  went 
on  shore  to  look  about  him,  he  could  discover  no  sign 
of  the  great  river  he  was  in  search  of.  The  colonists 
were  upon  a  low,  flat  coast,  without  natural  landmarks 
to  guide  them,  or  knowledge  of  the  longitude  of  the 
place  they  were  seeking,  or  of  the  currents  which  tlie 
Gulf  sets  in  motion.  No  wonder,  then,  that  La  Salle 
failed  to  recognize  any  part  of  the  inhospitable  coast 
before  him. 

Finding  no  trace  of  the  Mississippi,  and  as  the  failure 
to  do  so  was  every  day  productive  of  disputes  between 
himself  and  Beaujeu,  La  Salle  resolved  to  land  where 
he  was,  notwithstanding  his  belief  that  he  had  gone  too 
far  to  the  westward.  He  was,  in  fact,  at  the  time  of 
taking  this  resolution,  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  more  than 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  Mississippi. 

Almost  at  the  moment  of  landing,  La  Salle's  store- 
ship,  which  contained  the  greater  part  of  his  provisions, 
grounded,  and  became  a  wreck ;  it  is  said,  through  the 
carelessness  or  treachery  of  her  master,  who  also  was  on 


THE    LOST   COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS    OV   TEXAS. 


113 


had  terms  with  J^a  Salle.  Indeed,  from  first  to  last  La 
Salle's  enemies  seem  to  have  exerted  themselves  to  ruin 
him  with  a  zeal  that,  if  honestly  employed,  would  easily 
have  insured  the  suceess  of  all  his  plans. 

This  disaster,  taken  with  the  faet  that  he  knew  not 
where  he  was,  would  have  staggered  any  one  hut  La 
Salle.  His  dispirited  people  were  luuldled  together  on 
the  sands,  among  the  bales  and  boxes  saved  from  the 
wreck,  out  of  which  they  made  themselves  a  temporary 
intrenchment  an<l  shelter,  for  like  vultures  who  scent 
their  prey  from  afar,  hostile  Indians  hovered  about  the 
encampment,  watching  their  chance  to  cut  off  any  who 
should  stray  away  from  its  protection. 

Yet  misgiving  for  the  success  of  an  enterprise  so  dis- 
astrously begun,  was  turned  into  dread  when  the  colo- 
nists learned  that  they  were  nowhere  near  their  actual 
destination.  La  Salle,  indeed,  tried  to  put  heart  in  them 
liy  pretending  to  believe  otherwise,  l)ut  a  little  time 
soon  dispelled  tins  fallacy.  He,  however,  took  the  best 
means  of  quieting  discontent  by  setting  every  one  at 
work.  Beaujeu  had  sailed  away  after  j)romising  nuich, 
hut  performing  little  else.  The  colonists  now  had 
nuicli  more  to  fear  from  the  Spaniards,  than  the  Span- 
iards from  them.  Yet  for  La  Salle  nothing  remained 
but  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation  until  he  shoidd 
have  time  to  look  it  fairly  in  the  face. 

Meanwhile,  the  essential  thing  to  be  done  was  to  get 
his  people  lumsed  in  a  sitvuition  which  should  admit  of 
their  living  in  some  comfort  anil  security,  as  the  place 
where  they  first  landed  was  alike  destitute  of  wood, 
water  and  comfortable  lodging. 

lie  therefore  (diose  a  site  on  the  Lavaca  Rivei',^  two 
leagues  above   its   entrance  into   Matagorda   Bay.     To 


114 


THE    LOST    COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS    OK   TEXAS. 


tliis  place  the  colonists  removed  themselves  jiiid  their 
goods,  and  under  tlie  energetic  direction  of  La  Salle, 
whose  previous  training  now  stood  him  in  good  stead, 
they  set  about  building  themselves  a  home  in  this  out- 
of-the-way  corner  of  the  W(n'ld.  As  it  rose  from  the 
soil,  the  ever-loyal  La  Salle  named  it  St.  Louis,^  in 
honor  of  his  sovereign. 

The  summer  was  hot  and  sickly.  Death  was  soon 
busy  among  the  colonists,  those  who  ate  wild  fruits 
imprudently  suffering  first  of  all.  Now  and  then  the 
Indians  would  kill  some  straggling  hunter.  Thus,  in 
one  or  another  form,  death  lurked  about  them.  And 
beneath  these  apparent  dangers,  in  which  all  shared 
alike,  smouldered  the  embers  of  unreasoning  discontent 
which  certain  of  La  Salle's  followers  were  always  fan- 
ning  into  a  flame. 

Having  seen  his  people  comfortably  housed,  and  in 
condition  to  defend  tliemselves,  the  indefatigable  La 
Salle  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  prime  i)urpose  of 
his  expedition,  with  the  certainty  of  tne  needle  to  its 
I)ole,  for  all  he  had  so  far  done  was  merely  a  step  in 
this  direction.     There  was  no  time  to  lose. 

Although  it  is  not  clear  why  La  Salle  should  deter- 
mine to  march  overland,  rather  than  make  search  along- 
the  shores,  the  charticter  of  the  Gulf  coast  affords  a 
possible  clew.  This  is  described  by  Mv.  Cable  as  fol- 
lows: "Across  the  southern  end  of  the  State,"  —  he  is 
speaking  now  of  Louisiana,  — ''  from  Sabine  Lake  to 
Chandeleur  Bay,  with  a  north  and  south  width  of  fr(»in 
ten  to  thirty  miles,  and  an  average  of  about  fifteen, 
stretch  the  Gulf  marshes,  the  wild  haunt  of  myriads  of 
birds  and  water-fowl,  serpents  and  saurians,  hares,  rac- 
coons and  wildcats,  deep-bellowing  frogs,  and  clouds  of 


Inc 

to  be 
detern 
sii)pi 
of  ob 
Cana( 
return 
Foi- 
wjiom 
April, 
weapoi 
prairie 
them  i 
But 
witli  oi 
Tlie  ex 


TlIK    LOST    COLONY:    «T.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 


115 


insects,  and  by  a  few  Imnters  whose  solitary  and  rarely 
frecpiented  huts  speck  the  wide  green  horizon  at  remote 
intervals/' 

It  was  now  October,  1G85.  With  lil'ty  men  La  Salle 
set  out  for  tlie  river  he  had  discovered  (»nly  to  lose 
again.  Those  who  staid  behind,  lived  on  buffalo- 
meat,^  turtles,  oysters,  fish,  and  wild  fowl  Mhich  the 
prairies  or  lagoons  around  them  plentifullj'  supplied  in 
their  season. 

In  March,  the  exi)loring  i)arty  came  back  unsuccess- 
ful and  in  rags.  They  had  wandered  far,  but  had  not 
found  tlie  ^Mississippi.  One  crowning  disaster  now  befell 
these  exiles.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  kept  one  little 
vessel  of  their  licet  with  them,  which  was  to  take  them 
to  the  Mississippi  so  soon  as  its  exact  situation  should 
be  discovered.  This  vessel,  in  which  their  sole  depend- 
ence lav,  Mas  now  lost. 

In  desperate  situations,  desperate  measures  are  alone 
to  be  availed  of.  La  Salle's  resolve  was  heroic.  He 
determined  to  make  a  last  effort  to  reach  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  lakes.  Indeed,  there  was  now  no  hope 
of  obtaining  relief  nearer  than  Canada,  therefore  to 
Canada  he  must  go,  leaving  the  colonists  to  await  his 
return. 

For  this  purpose  La  Salle  chose  twenty  men,  with 
whom  he  again  set  out  from  the  fort  on  the  22d  of 
April,  1G8G.  Each  man  carried  his  own  pack  and 
weapons,  and  as  the  little  band  filed  out  upon  the 
prairie,  the  hopes  of  the  lost  colony  went  forth  with 
I  hem  in  their  desj)erate  venture. 

But  these  hopes  sunk  low  when  La  Salle  came  back 
with  only  eight  of  the  twent}'  who  had  gone  with  him. 
riie  explorers  had  penetrated  as  far  as  the  country  of 


IIG        THE   LOST   COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 


the  Cell  is  Iiidians,'*  wlun  sickness  aiul  desertion  had 
so  crippled  their  strength  as  to  niah^  further  progress 
liopeless  for  the  time.  They,  however,  procured  some 
horses  from  the  Indians  which  were  brought  hack  to 
the  fort. 

No  other  resource  being  open.  La  Salle  once  more 
essa\'ed  the  task  before  him.  In  the  straits  in  whicli  lie 
and  his  people  were  i)laced,  his  splendid  (qualities  for 
leadershij)  shine  out  of  the  gloom  like  a  guiding  star. 
The  resources  of  the  colony  were  nearly  exhausted  in 
fitting  out  previous  parties,  but  the  scant}^  stores  were 
ransacked  anew  to  equip  those  who  were  to  be  the  saviors 
of  the  rest.  The  horses  which  La  Salle  had  broucfht  in 
were  loaded  with  baggage  and  ammunition.  All  was 
ready.  A  midnight  mass  was  solemnly  said.  La  Salle 
spoke  a  few  hopeful  words  to  those  who  were  to  endure 
a  suspense  perhaps  even  greater  than  his  own,  and  then, 
mastering  his  own  feelings,  he  turned  away  to  join  his 
followers,  —  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  expiring  colony. 

On  the  15tli  of  March,  1G87,  the  hunters  who  Avere 
out  killed  a  buffalo.  The  party  therefore  halted  till 
the  meat  could  be  brought  into  camp.  Here  it  was 
that  the  hatred,  long  nursed  in  secret,  opeidy  revealed 
itself  in  murder.  Misery  always  begets  quarrels,  but  in 
this  case  the  sole  incitement  was  revenge.  La  Salle 
had  the  unhappy  faculty  of  making  enemies,  of  whom 
his  worst  ones  were  then  close  at  hand,  and  i)lottiiig 
for  his  life.  A  quarrel  about  the  meat  hastened  the 
work  on.  Those  who  were  faithful  to  La  Salle  became 
the  conspirators'  first  victims.  Three  of  these,  whom 
La  Salle  had  sent  over  to  the  hunters'  camp,  were 
butchered  while  they  slept. 

La  Salle  himself  was  encamped  six  miles  distant  from 


Fi( 


THK   LOST  COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS   OB^   TKXAS.        117 

the  place  wlioic  tlicsc  murders  were  committed,  (tiow- 
inc^  uneasy  at  the  long  absence  of  the  men  lie  had  sent 
away,  he  started  with  an  Indian  guide  for  their  camp. 
A  friar  named  Douay  also  accompanied  him.  This  friar 
noted  in  La  Salle's  talk  and  manner  the  presentiment 
of  coming  evil.  On  reaching  a  point  which  he  supposed 
to  be  near  the  hunters'  camp.  La  Salic*  fired  his  musket 
as  a  signal.  One  of  the  conspirators  showed  himself, 
while  the  others  lay  hid  in  the  long  prairie-grass  unob- 
served. La  Salle  fell  into  the  snare  thus  set  for  him. 
While  advancing  toward  the  decoy,  whose  insolent 
replies  angered  him.  La  Salle  constantly  neared  the 
aml)uscade.  Suddenly  a  shot  was  fired.  When  the 
smoke  cleared  awav.  La  Salle  was  seen  stretched  life- 
less  upon  the  prairie.  He  was  quite  dead.^  The  bullet 
had  gone  through  his  l)rain. 

Thus,  in  the  prime  of  life,  fell  Robert  Cavelier  de  La 
Salle,  and  thus  again  must  history  record  its  indignant 
l^rotcst  in  the  death  of  a  man  of  highest  intellectual 
force,  whose  worth  lo  the  world  was  monumental  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  vulgar  assassin  who  slew  him. 


dU 


1  New  Biscay.  Kofor  to  chapter 
"  Xew  iloxico." 

2  Lavaca  IIivkii,  also  caliwl  by  the 
French  Lii  V.'iche  (the cow). 

">  St.  I^oL'is.  This  name  wan  some 
timo  prosi'ivod  in  connection  with  St. 
HiTnaul,  or  Mataooiida  Bay.  Not  to 
lie  conlounded  with  St.  Louis  of  the 
Illinois. 

*  Cenis  Indians  occupied  the  east 
liank  of  the  Trinity,  toward  Ketl  River 

"  TuE  Murder  is  located  at  a  |)oini 
nearly  midway  between  the  Brazos  and 
I'rinity  Uivers,  on  a  map  in  the  au 
tlior's  possesHion,  and  not  far  from  the 
old  Spanish  trail  Iwtween  Xaco<locheH 
and  the  Presidio  del  Xorte.     After  the 


murder,  the  survivors  wont  forward 
to  the  Cenis  %illa?es.  In  a  quarrel 
about  tlie  i)liinder,  two  of  the  ringlead- 
ers, Duhaut  and  Liotot,  were  killed 
by  their  confederates.  This  left  the 
way  open  for  Joutel,  the  two  priests, 
Cavelier  (La Salle's  brother), and  Douay, 
with  three  others,  to  continue  their  at- 
tempt to  reach  tlie  Mississippi.  Those 
•mi>licated  in  La  Salle's  murder,  dared 
not  return  to  the  settlements.  With 
Indian  guides  the  river  was  struck  at  the 
Arkansas  villages,  where  the  fugitives 
met  with  two  of  Toiity's  men,  who 
heliKHl  them  on  their  way.  Tonty  had 
lKH?n  down  the  river  on  a  fruitless  search 
for  La  Salle. 


UH 


TIIK    LOST    (;OL()NV:    S'l\    I-OriS   OF   TKXAS. 


WoTB.  —  Tub  Ooi.onisth  at  St. 
l,<»lMs,  exci'pt  three  i)r  four  who  were 
carriod  into  captivity,  were  all  maisMatrcd 
by  the  IiullauH.  A  Siiiiiiinh  fxi-cditioii  In 
ItiSl)  found  till!  place  a  HolllUile.  'I'howe 
who  CHcaped  Hubtte(|Ueiitly  related  what 
had  occurred.  Although  lhi«  was  the 
th'Ht  white  colony  to  be  t'ouiided  in 
Texas,*  in  itHcIf  it  wan  an  accident,  uo 
U'HH  produetiv'.'  of  reHultf,  lieeaune  it  led 
the  .Spaniurili*  to  occupy  liie  country  in 


order  to  keep  out  intruderM  like  I,a  i^allp. 
(iei)Krapliical  Unnwledi;!!  wan  alHu  re- 
inarkalily  extended. 

♦  Tkxa>.  The  nainp,  in  itn  oreHeiil 
orthomaphy,  iiicihm  at  thin  time  In  con- 
nection with  l.a  ."^alle'H  eolony,  lint  in 
lirnt  found  in  "  A  iSriefe  Uelation  of  Two 
Nolalile  VoyaifCK "  (Ilakluvt  ill.  404), 
inaile  lirnt  by  the  friar  Auu'ui'tin  Itui;;,  in 
l.'>>t1,  to  the  I'iuiiaH  liHliauH,  and  next  by 
Antonio  do  Knpejo  in  I'lSli.  Shortened 
to  TejaH  (TahuM),  the  name  \\ie<  easily 
turned  into  Tcxai^,  ilH  pruHcut  rendering. 


IBERVILLE    FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 

Where  La  Salle  had  sowed,  others  were  to  reap,  yet 
so  comprehensive  were  his  plans,  so  well  matured,  so 
entirely  feasible  withal,  that  what  followed  was  but  the 
natura^  result  of  his  efforts.  La  Salle  was  like  tlie  gen- 
eral who  falls  in  the  moment  of  victory.  All  honor 
then  to  his  name  !  ^ 

Therefore  while  we  record  his  failure,  individuallv, 
to  do  all  he  purposed  in  this,  liis  last  expedition,  the 
success  which  came  later  was  due  to  the  master  mind 
of  La  Salle.  We  shall  not  find,  in  any  explorer  of  his 
time,  so  original  a  mind  united  with  such  rare  gifts  for 
doing  the  work  to  which  he  devoted  himself. 

For  a  time,  the  project  of  colonizing  Louisiana  ^ 
quietly  sle[)t.  It  was  then  revived  by  a  naval  officer 
named  Iberville,^  who  thus  became,  in  a  manner,  heir  to 
La  Salle's  projects. 

Iberville  promised  to  rediscover  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  hold  it  afterward  by  building  a  fort  at 
its  mouth,  just  as  La  Salle  would  have  done  if  he  had 
lived  to  carry  out  his  schemes. 

Although  it  had  slumbered    long,  the   moment  the 


wit 

l)efo 

hut 

sioii 

coin 

call( 

F( 

with 

W;ii'( 

Hot 
liaijo 
Bay 
ha'  ] 
I)uat.>- 
Ve 


IBKIlVIMiK    KOt'NDS    LOUISIANA. 


110 


lad 
the 


project  wart  roiKuved  by  so  cupiible  a  man  as  Ibt'ivillc, 
ovi'iy  int('lli<4('nt  Kruiicliiuaii  saw  its  iniportaiicc.  The 
iniiiister  Poiicliaitrain  apjjiovi'd  it  directly  it  was 
broached  to  him,  tlie  more  because  he  knew  tiiat  il"  any 
man  could  sucireed  in  what  he  undertook,  Iberville 
would. 

Iberville  had  seen  much  service  in  Canada,  Hudson's 
iJay  and  Newfoundland.  IJeing  himself  a  naval  ollicer 
of  rank,  he  would  connuand  his  own  ships,  and  not  be 
liiimi)ered  by  a  divided  connuand,  or  the  jealousy  of  a 
rival,  which  had  ])roved  such  a  formi(bdjle  stund)lini]^- 
block  to  La  Salle. 

As  the  war  was  now  over,  Iberville  wished  to  distin- 
guish himself  by  some  worthy  action  done  in  the  inter- 
ests of  peaceful  concjuest. 

Two  ships  were  therefore  got  ready,  wliicli  sailed 
iVom  Kochefort  in  October,  1098,  and  anchored  at  St. 
Domingo'*  in  December.  Sailing  thence  they  fell  in 
with  the  Florida  coast  Jaimary  27.  A  bay  opened 
before  them.  Iberville  wished  to  put  into  this  port, 
hut  on  attempting  to  do  so  he  found  it  in  the  posses- 
sion of  three  hundred  Spaniards  from  Vera  Cruz,  whose 
conmiander  forbade  his  landing  there.  This  place  was 
called  Pensacola.^ 

Fearing  the  Spaniards  were  on  the  same  errand^ 
with  himself,  Iberville  at  once  made  sail  for  the  west- 
ward, hugging  the  shores  as  closely  as  possible  in  order 
not  to  miss  the  river  among  the  mists  which  commonly 
hang  over  and  hide  it  from  view.  Fiiuling  in  Mobile 
Bay  a  harbor  where  his  ships  C(juld  safely  ride,  while 
he  himself  continued  the  search  along  the  shore  in 
boats,  Iberville  came  to  an  anchor  there. 

Very  shortly  his  exploring  [)arties  came  to  the  Pasca- 


120 


IBERVILLE   FOrXDS   LOUISIANA. 


goiila   River,  where  they  found  many  savages   living. 

From  this  river  tliey  pnslied  on  through  the  intervening 

higoons  that  everj'where  intersect  this   shallow  shore, 

till,  on  the  2d  of  March,  the 
Mississippi  itself  was  entered 
through  one  of  its  numerous 
passes. 

Sailing  on  up  the  river,  Ibei- 
ville  passed  first  one  })opulous 
t<twn  and  then  nnother,  re- 
ceiving everywhere  a  cordial 
welcome  from  the  savages, 
vet  dnubtino-  within  himself 
whether  he  w^as  on  the  true 
Mississi}»pi,  till  one  day  a  chief 
brought  him  a  letter '^  which 
Tonty  had  left  for  La  Salle 
thirteen  vears  before,  when, 
after  scarcliing  for  his  chief  in 
vain,  this  trusty  comrade  had 
turned  back  for  the  Illinois. 

After  mentioning  that  he 
had  found  La  Salle's  cross 
thrown  down,  and  had  set  uj) 
another  in  a  better  place,  the 
letter  concludes  by  saying,  "  It 
is  a  great  chagrin  to  me  that 
we  are  going  back  without  find- 
ing you,  after  having  coasted 

the  Mexican  (Louisiana)  shore  for  thirty  leagues,  and 

the  Florida  twent3'-five.'' 

This  letter  having  removed  all  Iberville's  doubts,  lie 

fell  down  the  river  again,  and  having  nowhere  found. 


SUGAR   PLANT. 


IBERVILLE   FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 


121 


in 


within  sixty  leagues  of  tlie  Gulf,  a  proper  place  to 
begin  a  settlement  on,  he  turned  back  to  the  Ray  of 
!5iloxi,  where  a  spot  was  cliosen  and  the  ground,  marked 
out  for  one. 

After  seeing  the  establishment  at  Biloxi  well  under 
way,  Iberville  took  ship  for  France.  He  was  l)ack 
again  early  in  January,  1701.  During  his  absence  an 
English  corvette  had  sailed  twenty-Hve  leagues  up  the 
Mississippi  to  a  point  where  the  river  sweeps  grandly 
round  to  the  east.  At  this  place  her  captain  was 
warned  back  by  the  French,  from  which  circumstance 
the  l)end  received  the  name  of  the  English  Turn,  which 
it  has  ever  since  borne. 

Iberville  also  learned  that  English  traders  from  Caro- 
lina ^  had  penetrated  into  the  Chickasaw  country  above 
him.  Finding;  himself  menaced  both  bv  sea  and  land, 
and  delay  dangerous,  Iberville  shut  up  the  entrance 
from  sea  by  mounting  some  cannon  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river. 

The  century  turned  noiselessly  on  its  hinges  with 
no  other  establishments  in  all  this  great  domain  of 
Louisiana  except  that  planted  by  La  Salle  on  the  Illi- 
nois, and  the  one  at  Riloxi. 

In  1701  Iberville  beo-an  a  settlement  at  Mobile.  The 
next  vear  he  erected  storehouses  and  barracks  on  Dan- 
pliine  Island^  for  permanent  occupation.  In  a  few 
years  this  island  became  the  general  headquarters  of 
the  Louisiana  colony.  Nothing  worthy  of  the  name, 
however,  existed  before  1708.  Up  to  this  time  the 
handful  of  colonists  lived  on  what  was  sent  them  from 
France,  or  obtained  by  trading  French  goods  with  the 
savages.  They  sowed  wheat,  but  found  the  climate  too 
^ani])  for  growing  it  with  success.     They  also  began 


100  IBKIIVILLK  KO.TN1.S  I.onlS.ANA. 

L  ^*J 

1-1.    ,iwl    wio  well   that  its 

t,,e   planting   of   [-'^-'^'•'^itJ.'M    he  colony, 
culture  ,.e.ently  became  a  mm  U  ^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^ 

But  while   IbervUe  ha.l  ^^  ^.  ;,ion  for 


:irr^---^'--  *""  '"""^^  """"• 


,proae,angtbeMi....VPbeitb..f..n.«ea^^ 
Lake  Ponehartrau..  be  «...  actual  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^^ 

t--tbeS.auiar  ...  le-^^  "-  l-" 

tS,rr;:ui  tJ^eben..  o.   .en  a.an  in  ... 


atteil 

(•(•lis 

>  \\ 

ill   (Hill 
iui(,:lblyl 

-  ('(| 
Kk'pt, 
i|U('lii.'c 
l''r;iiK'i'. 

■  Inl 
(if  c'iulil 
:llili;iis 
OIR'  of 
|ini(lui'i' 
liiii,'  the 
Aftciw: 

rfiii;|i|ll 
Idiiinlhtl 
aliii>i>t  II 
iiaiiii'  ifi 
i^h'if  I, I 
*  >r. 
cfizcil  lij 
Fceiich  ^ 
till'   inlai 


,/, 


/,(-' 


IBKRVILLE    FOUNDS    LOUISIANA. 


123 


attempt  of  these  Freiiclimeii  to  enter  upon  what  they 
contsidered  their  righti'iil  inheritanee. 


'  I. A  Sallk's  Xamk  iK  perpetuated 
in  many  placon  in  tlie  United  Siaien, 
nutatily  in  u  city  and  connly  of  lilnioi."!. 

-  ('oi-()NiziN(;  I.oiisiANA  (luietly 
Klo|it,  partly,  bin  not  wholly,  in  conso 
(luence  of  war  between  England  and 
Kiani'c. 

InKKVIl.LE.l.K  MOYNK  1)K,  WasOllO 

lit    fiirtit    brotliein,  all    eminent   in   the 
annals  of  Canada.     l\o  wan   eonsitlered 
oni'  of  the  greatest  Hailors   France  han 
|iio(lneed.     In  IGS')  lie  aHsiwted  in  expel 
liii^'  the  English   from    lludson'n   Bay. 
Afterward  be  took  part  in  the  defence 
iif    (^nebee     by    Frontenac;     dcHtroyed 
I'cuia'iiiid  ;   and  took  8t.  .lohn'.s,  Xew 
loninilanil.     As  a  commander   he   was 
almost  nnif(3rmly  suc<a!s«Ail.     Ibcrv  ille'n 
name  is  i)erpetuatod  iu  a  town  and  par 
\!-\\  of  Louisiana. 

•»  St.  Domingo,  or  Hayti,  had  been 
seized  by  French  buccaneers,  lii.'JO.  The 
Flench  governmetit  took  portrteHsion  of 
the  island,  lOTT,  thus  establishinii  a 
ilrjiof  for  their  oi)erations  In  the  (iulf 
of  Mexico. 

5  I'KNSAf  oi.A  (Indian).  A  place  of 
niiKli  hmtorie  interest.    First  discovered, 


according  to  the  Spaniards,  by  Xarvaez, 
then  l)y  Maldonado,  one  of  ])e  Soto's 
eai)tains.  It  received  several  S|)anish 
names,  notably  that  of  Santa  Maria  de 
(iaive,  but  linally  retained  that  of  the 
neighboring  tribe  of  savages. 

«  U.N  THE  Same  EititA.ND.  That  the 
Spaniards  knew  of  the  Mississippi  is 
clear  [vmn  theii  ha\ing  given  it  the  name 
Iberville  afterward  found  so  apt  when 
aseeiuling  It,  —  Uio  de  lo8  I'alissades, — 
a  title  suggested  by  the  enormoiirt  rafts 
of  uprooted  trees  which  the  river  brought 
down  and  left  stranded  at  its  mouth. 

'  To.NTv's  Lktteii  was  left  in  the 
folks  of  a  tree  where  the  Indians  found 
u.  It  may  be  ttuun  in  full  in  Charlevoix. 
II.  2.'y.t. 

8  P^Nfa.isii  TnADEUs  from  Carolina 
were  i)ushing  their  way  across  the  Ap- 
palachians. Many  French  I'rotestanlH 
who  had  tied  from  their  conntiy  on  the 
revocation  of  the  Etiiet  of  Nantes,  were 
settled  in  South  Carolina,  and  it  was 
feared  the  English  would  attemi)t  to 
settle  a  colony  of  them  in  Louisiana. 

•'  Dalpiiixe,  originally  Massacre 
Island. 


FRANCE   WINS  THE   PRIZE. 

"A  soldier,  fire,  and  water,  soon  niahe  room  for  themselves." 

Ip.erville  died  at  Havana  in  1706,  leaving  his  iin- 
eoiupleted  work  to  liis  younger  brother,  Bienville,^  who 
set  vii^oi'onsly  about  it. 

Many  beheved  Natchez  to  be  the  best  point  on  tlie 
liver  for  founding  a  settlement.  Natchez  therefore 
assiuiK'd  importance  to  Frencli  phiiis  for  the  future. 
Hut  Natchez  was  the  principal  seat  of  a  powerful  nation 


— ^^ 


124 


FKANCE    WINS   THE   IMtlZI-:. 


whose  oiiniity  it  would  be  impolitic  to  arouse  by  making 
forcible  entry  upon  tlieir  lands.  An  opportunity  soon 
offered  itself,  however,  which  Bienville  quickly  took 
advantage  of. 

In  the  iirst  i)lace  some   outrages  committed  by  tlie 
Natchez  upon  passing  traders  gave  liienville  the  pretext 

lie  sought  for  building  a  fort 
at  their  village,  which  was 
prf)mptly  done  (1714). 

These  peojjle  being  over- 
awed, the  next  step  taken 
was  the  building  of  a  forti- 
fied house  at  Natchitochos,- 
ou  the  Red  Kiver,  as  a 
check  to  the  Spaniards,  who, 
already,  were  working  theh' 
way  east  from  the  Ivio 
\  I  Grande  toward  the  Missis- 
l  1  =^ipi'^  pfii'tly  to  overawe  tlio 
troublesome  Comanches,aii(l 
partly  to  engross  the  Indian 
trade  of  that  region  for 
tliemselves.  Thus  early  in 
its  history  the  Mississippi 
and  its  commerce  were  he- 
come  a  bone  of  contention 
between  English,  Spaniards  and  French. 

Again  the  folly  of  farming  out  the  trade  of  a  whole 
country  to  a  single  individual,  which  had  been  tried 
in  Canada  with  such  bad  effects,  was  repeate<l  hero  in 
Louisiana.  This  monopoly  was  granted  (1712)  to 
Anthony  Crozat  foi*  twenty-five  years.  Like  all  specu- 
lators, Crozat  aimed  to  make  the  most  in  the  shortest 


FRANCE    WINS   THK    PRIZE. 


125 


time,  letting  the  future  of  the  e()h)iiy  take  care  of  itself. 
He  was  to  control,  absolutely,  all  that  came  into  the 
colony  or  went  out  of  it.  Agriculture  was  neglected 
and  trade  only  encouraged.  And  all  trade  was  monopo- 
lized by  Anthony  ('rozat.  'J'his  was  the  penny  wise, 
})<»und  foolish,  colonial  S3'stem  of  France,  ado[)ted  with 
the  purpose  of  putting  a  little  money  into  the  royal 
treasury  at  a  nominal  saving  to  it  of  certain  sums 
rc([uired  for  maintaining  its  authority  in  the  colony. 
This  policy  turned  the  colony  into  a  trading-post,  and 
the  i)eoi)le  themselves  into  dependants  of  C'rozat. 

When  ( 'rozat  entered  upon  his  exclusive  privileges 
there  were  hut  twenty-eight  families  in  the  whole  prov- 
ince, of  whom  not  more  than  half  were  actual  settlei's, 
the  rest  being  either  traders,  inid^cepers  or  laborers, 
who  had  no  fixed  residence. 

The  roving  traders,  or  Coureurs  de  Boii<^^  bartered 
French  goods  with  the  Indians  for  peltries  and  slaves, 
which  were  S(dd  in  the  settlements.  Jt  was  found  that 
tobacco,  iiuligo,  cotton  ami  rice  coidd  be  protitably 
cultivated,  but  none  except  slaves  were  employed  in 
tilling  the  soil,  which,  indeed,  is  comparatively  worthless 
ill  the  neighboihood  where  the  colonists  first  located 
themselves.  Conseciuently  only  such  things  as  would 
hcl[»  to  eke  out  a  suV)sistence  —  such  as  corn,  vegetables 
and  poultry  —  were  cultivated  at  all.  In  a  word,  the 
colony  literally  lived  from  hand  to  mouth.  Instead  of 
growing  stronger  and  richer,  of  its  own  robust  growth, 
it  grew,  if  possible,  weaker  and  poorer  by  reason  of 
a  policy,  or  system,  uiuler  which  no  colony  has  ever 
thrived. 

kittle  inducement  was  lield  out  for  the  colonist  to 
itlentify  himself  with  the  country,  or  feel  that  he  and 


12G 


FRANCE   WINS   THE    PllIZE. 


it  must  grow  up  together.  He  was  a  sojouiuer  in  ;i 
strauge  land.  He  could  never  hope  to  get  rich  In 
trade,  since  every  thing  must  pass  through  the  lian<ls 
of  Crozat's  agents,  at  a.  price  fixed  by  them. 

This  was  by  no  means  the  whole  weakness  of  Lou- 
isiana in  her  infancy.     Perhaps  the  primary  evil  lay  in 

the  fact  that  sd 
far  the  Frendi 
neither  con- 
trolled access  to 
(he  Mississipiii. 
in  the  p 1 a c o 
where  they  we  re. 
or  had  fornuMl 
any  settled  plan 
for  securing  tliiit 
solid  foothold  on 
its  banks  whicli 
ah^ne  could  ren- 
der them  mas- 
ters of  the  situa- 
tion. 

Crozat's  fail- 
ure was,  in  the 
uature  of  things, 
foreordained.  His  scheme,  indeed,  i)rovcd  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  colony  and  a  loss  to  himself.  In  five  years 
(1717)  he  was  glad  to  surrender  his  monopoly  to  the 
crown. 

From  its  ashes  sjjrung  the  gigantic  Mississippi  Scheme 
of  John  I^aw,"*  to  whom  all  Louisiana,  now  includint; 
the  Illinois  country,  was  granted  for  a  term  of  years. 
Compared  with  this  prodigality  Crozat's  concession  was 


FUENCU   SULDIEHS. 


FRANCE   WINS  THE   PlIIZK. 


127 


l)ut  a  playtliing.  It  not  only  gave  Law's  Company 
proprietary  rights  to  tlie  soil,  but  power  was  con- 
ferred to  administer  justice,  make  peace  or  war  with 
the  natives,  build  I'orts,  levy  troops  and  with  consent 
of  the  crown  to  appoint  such  military  governors  as  it 
should  think  fitting.  These  extraordinary  privileges 
were  put  in  force  by  a  royal  edict,  dated  in  September, 
1717. 

The  new  company  granted  lands  along  the  river  to 
iiulividuals  or  associated  persons,  who  were  sometimes 
actual  emigrants,  sometimes  great  personages  who  sent 
out  c(»l()nists  at  their  own  cost,  or  again  tlie  company 
itself  undertook  the  l)uilding  up  of  plantations  or  lands 
icserved  by  it  for  the  purpose.  One  colony  of  Alsa- 
tians was  sent  out  by  LaAv  to  begin  a  plantation  on 
the  Arkansas.^  Others,  more  or  less  flourishing,  were 
located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  Natchez  and  Baton 
liouge.  All  were  agricultural  pkintations,  though  in 
most  cases  the  plantations  themselves  consisted  of  a 
few  poor  huts  covered  with  a  thatch  of  i)alm-leaves. 
The  earliest  forts  were  usually  a  square  earthwork, 
strengthened  with  palisades  about  the  parapet. 

The  company's  agricultural  system  was  founded  upon 
African  slave  labor.*^  Slaves  were  brought  fnmi  St. 
I)omi)igo  or  other  of  the  West  India  islands.  By  some 
their  employment  was  viewed  with  alarm,  because  it 
was  thought  the  blacks  would  soon  outnumber  the 
whites,  and  might  some  day  rise  and  overpower  them ; 
hut  we  find  only  the  feeblest  protest  entered  against 
the  moral  wrong  of  slavery  in  an}'^  record  of  the  time 
Negroes  could  work  in  the  fields,  under  the  burning 
sun,  when  the  whites  could  not.  Their  labor  cost  no 
inore    than    their   maintenance.       The    planters   easily 


128 


FRANCE   WINS   TlIK   rillZE. 


adopted    wliat,    indeed,   already    existed    among    their 
neighbors.     Selt-interest  stifled  conscience. 

The  new  coin[)any  wisely  appointed  Bienville  gov- 
ernor. Three  ships  brought  munitions,  troops,  and 
stores  of  every  sort  from  France,  with  which  to  put  new 
life  into  the  expiring  colony. 

It  was  at  this  time  (February,  1718)  that  Bienville 
began  the  foundation  of  the  destined  metropolis  of 
Louisiana.  The  si)ot  chosen  by  him  was  clearly  but  a 
fragment  of  the  delta  which  the  river  had  ))een  for  ages 
silently  building  of  its  own  mud  and  driftwood.  It  had 
literally  risen  from  the  sea.  Elevated  only  a  few  feet 
above  sea-level,  threatened  with  frequent  inundation, 
and  in  its  primitive  estate  a  cyi)ress  swamp,  it  seemed 
little  suited  for  the  abode  of  men,  yet  time  has  con- 
firmed the  wisdom  of  the  choice. 

Here,  then,  a  hundred  miles  from  the  Gulf,  on  the 
alluvial  banks  of  the  great  river,  twenty-five  convicts 
and  as  many  carpenters  were  set  to  work  clearing  tlie 
ground  and  building  the  humble  log  cabins,  whicli  were 
to  constitute  the  capital,  in  its  infancy. 

The  settlement  was  named  New  Orleans,'^  in  honor  ol' 
the  Regent,  Orleans,  who  ruled  France  during  the 
minority  c>f  Louis  XV. 

Up  to  this  time  it  w'as  supposed  that  large  ships 
could  not  cross  the  bar,  at  the  river's  mouth,  but  upon 
sounding  the  channel,  enough  water  was  found  to  float 
one  of  the  comi)any's  shij^s,  which  then  sailed  up  to 
New  Orleans.  From  this  day,  the  river  may  be  saitl 
to  have  been  fairly  open  to  commerce  with  the  outside 
world.  As  respects  the  passage  up  and  down,  it  iiad 
practically  become  an  every-day  excursion  for  the  Ca- 
nadian voyageurs  who,  with  the  Indians,  had  so  long 


of  tht 

(liv.l 

of  woe 
ill  Fr 
"illin< 
scarce 
fake  s 


FRANCE   WINS   THE   PKIZE. 


129 


tl. 


formed  its  floating  population.  These  adventurers  now 
drew  up  their  canoes,  ak)ng  tlie  bank,  at  New  Orleans, 
whose  promiscuous  assemblage  of  Indians,  habitants, 
convicts,  soldiers  and  priests,  they  joined. 

Father  Charlevoix,  the  historian  of  New  France,  thus 
describes  New  Orleans  as  he  saw  it  in  1721 :  — 

"The  most  just  idea  I  can  give  you  is  to  imagine  two  hundred 
persons  wl)o  liave.been  sent  to  build  a  city,  and  who  are  encamped 
on  its  banks.     This  city  is  the  first  which  one  of  the  greatest  rivers 


NKW    OULBANS,   1719. 


of  the  world  has  seen  rise  on  its  borders.  It  is  composed  of  a  hun- 
(liod  barracks  placed  without  much  order,  a  large  storehouse  built 
of  wood,  two  or  three  houses  which  would  not  adorn  a  poor  village 
in  France,  and  part  of  a  wretched  barrack  which  they  have  been 
willing  to  lend  the  Lord,  for  his  service,  and  of  which  He  had 
scarcely  taken  possession  when  He  was  thrust  out  and  made  to 
take  shelter  under  a  tent." 

In  the  cluster  of  French  names,  —  Louisiana,  New 
Orleans,  Ponchartrain,  Iberville  and  Maurepas,  —  the 
great  personages  who  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
founding  of  Louisiana  are  fittingly  perpetuated. 

From  Quebec  to  New  Orleans,  from  the  St.  Lawrence 


130 


FltANCIO    WINS   TIIK    I'KIZK. 


to  the  Gulf,  a  lint;  (»!'  posts,  lialt-militaiy,  Ijalf-religioiis, 
had  sprung  up  in  La  Salle's  footste2)S.  Fmiiee  liad  won 
the  prize. 


>  liiENViLLE,  from  liiH  loiiicntul  xmo- 
fill  nHHociiitioii  witli  the  i)ioviiu:f,  wutt 
<:ille(J  tho"  KathtT  of  LouiHiaim." 

>  Natch iTociiKs  lifcamo  iiii  iiiipor 
tunt  Htratoi^ic  point  with  ri-fciiMice  to  liie 
Spanianlrt  in  'IVixan,  wlio  iiad  foiindwl 
inisHioiirt  at  San  Antonio  and  a  poA^l  ut 
X.icodoclK'H. 

3  "C')i'KKtTn«t  DK  I5oi«',  or  Wood 
Rangers,  are  l''nMndi  or  (.'anadoso,  ho 
calic'd  from  finploying  their  whole  life 
in  tiio  rout^li  exercise  of  tranHjwrling 
inercliandiso  goods  to  the  \uke«  of 
Canada  and  to  all  tlie  oilier  countries  of 
that  continent  in  order  to  trade  with  the 
savagoH.  And  in  regard  that  they  run 
In  canoes  a  thousand  leagues  up  the 
country,  tiotwithstandlng  the  danger  of 
the  Hca  and  onemieH,  I  talte  it  they 
uhould  rather  be  called  Runners  of  Risks 
than  Runners  of  the  Wooda.'' —  Baron 
la  J /on  1(1)1. 

*  John  Law  of  Edinburgh  was  made 
comptroller  general  of  the  finances  of 
Krance,  upon  the  strength  of  a  scheme 
for  establishing  a  hank,  a:id  an  East 
India  and  >nsHiMsipi)i  Company,  by  the 
profits  of  wbiclk  the   natiuiiul  debt    of 


Fiance  was  to  1k»  paid  off.  In  I'lfi  he 
opened  his  bank,  and  the  deluded  of 
every  rank  subscrilH'<l  for  nUan-H  lK)lh  in 
the  bank  and  company.  A.dc  I'oiitinar- 
tin  calls  it  the  "  idolatry  of  the  golden 
calf."  N'oltaiie  relalen  that  he  had  seen 
Law  come  to  court  with  dukei«,  mur 
Hbalrt  and  bishops  in  his  train.  The 
imaginary  riches  of  Louisiana  furnished 
the  basis  for  thO  ucbeine.  At  first  the 
Bhares  went  up.  Iff  1720  the  inflated 
bubble  e.xplodcti,  spreading  ruin  every 
where.  Law  himself  died  in  poverty. 
It  infused  a  Hpa<«m  of  pros{H*rity  in  Loui 
Biana,  soon  to  be  followed  by  reactiuii 
which  brought  every  tiiiug  to  a  stand 
Htill.    Consult  any  good  encyclopaedia. 

6  On  the  Arkansas,  but  very  Boon 
romoved  lower  down  the  river.  Tbe.-^e 
Germans  were  pioneor«  of  free  lalwr  in 
I/juisiana.  I'hey  l)ecame  the  market  gar 
dencrs  for  New  Orleans. 

•  Slavery.  Negro  slavery  was 
then  established  in  the  Spauisb  and 
English  .\mencan  colonics. 

'  New  Orleans  was  regularly  laid 
out  in  1720.  It  wan  protected  from  iiiiiii- 
datton  by  an  embankment  called  a  Icvec. 


LOUIS  XIV. 

Louis  XTV.  was  not  only,  as  Richelieu,  powerful,  but 
he  was  luajestic ;  not  only,  as  Cromwell,  great,  but  in  him 
was  serenity.  Louis  XIV.  was  not,  perhaps,  genius  in 
the  master,  but  genius  surrounded  him.  This  may  les- 
sen a  king  in  the  eyes  of  some,  but  it  adds  to  the  glory 
of  his  reign.  As  for  me,  as  you  already  know,  T  love  that 
which  is  absolute,  which  is  perfect;  and  therefore  have 


LOUIS    XIV.. 


131 


always  a  i.rofound  respect  for  this  grave  and  wortliy 
prince,  so  well-born,  so  much  loved,  and  so  well-sur- 
rounds .1  ;  a  king  hi  his  cradle,  a  king  in  the  tomb ;  true 
sovereign  in  every  acceptation  of  the  word ;  central 
monarch  of  civilization;  pivot  of  all  Europe,  seeing,  so 
to  speak,  from  tour  to  tour,  eight  popes,  five  sultans, 
three  emperors,  two  kings  in  Spain,  three  kings  of  Por- 
tugal, four  kings  and  one  queen  of  England,  three  kings 
of  Denmark,  one  (pieen  and  two  kings  of  Sweden,  four 
kings  of  Poland,  and  four  czars  of  Muscovy  appear, 
sliine  forth  and  disappear  around  his  throne  ;  polar  star 
of  an  entire  age,  who,  during  seventy-two  years,  saw  all 
the  constellations  majestically  perform  their  evolutions 
round  him.  —  V.  Hugo,  TIlc  Uhine. 


III. 

THE    ENGLISH. 


THE   BLEAK   NORTH-WEST  COAST. 

"  War  with  the  world  and  peace  with  England."  —  Spanish. 

TyE  should  expect  to  find  a  race  of  sailors  pushing 
'*    discovery  on  their  own  element. 

With  English  mariners  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  belief  in  a  North-west  Passage  to  India  was  an  in- 
herited faith.  Cabot  led  discovery  in  this  direction. 
It  became,  almost  exclusively,  a  held  for  the  brave  an<l 
adventurous  of  this  nation  who,  from  year  to  year, 
spreaduig  their  tattered  sails  to  the  frozen  blasts  of  tlic 
Polar  Sea,  grimly  fought  their  way  on  from  cape  io 
headland,  in  desperate  venture,  lured  by  the  vain  hope 
of  finding  the  open  waters  of  their  dreams  lying  just 
beyond  them.  It  is  a  story  of  daring  and  peril  unsur- 
passed. Many  a  noble  ship  and  gallant  crew  have  gone 
down  while  attempting  to  solve  those  mysteries  wliieli 
the  hand  of  God  would  seem  forever  to  have  sealed  up 
from  the  knowledge  of  man. 

Among  others  the  brave  and  ill-fated  Henry  Hud- 
son,^ in  IGIO,  sailed  through  the  straits  leading  into  the 
bay  now  bearing  his  name,  where  liis  mutinous  crew 
wickedly  abandoned  him  to  die  of  cold  or  hunger,  or 

both. 

i;{2 


THK    ULEAK    N(HtTH-\VEST    COAST. 


18.S 


Aftenvanl,  Iludson's  \V.\y  was  repeatetlly  visited  l>y 
Eiiglisli  navigators  wliose  discoveries  all  went  to  cou- 
firni  the  prevailing  Ixdiel'  in  an  open  polar  sea.  One 
of  them  even  took  a  letter  from  his  own  king  for  the 
Emperor  of  Japan.  In  view  of  the  suffering  to  which 
all  were  alike  subject,  these  "frost-l)iting  voyages" 
migiit  be  said  to  show  more  heroism  than  sound  pr  icti- 
cal  wisdom,  yet  with  the  riches  of  the  Indies  spread  out 
before  their  fancy,  and  all  England  to  apphuid  their 
deeds,  the  best  of  England's  sailors  were  always  ready 
to  peril  life 
and  11  nd)  for 
tiieprize.  All 
who  came 
hack  told  the 
same  tale,  — 
uf  seas  sheet- 
ed in  ice,  suns 
that  never 
set,  lands 
where  noth- 
ii)j4'grew,cold 

so  extreme  that  all  nature  seemed  but  a  mockery  of  the 
all-wise  design  of  the  Creator  Himself. 

Sir  Thomas  Button  followed  up  Hudson's  discoveries 
ill  1G12.  He  wintered  at  the  mouth  of  Nelson's  River, 
so  named  by  him,  after  finding  farther  progress  to  the 
westward  barred  by  the  coast,  where  he  had  hoped  to 
tiud  it  opening  before  him. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  bleak  and  desolate  region 
enclosing  Hudson's  Bay  was  rich  in  fur-bearing  animals, 
wiiuse  skins  bore  a  great  price  in  Europe,  and  the  re- 
ports brought  back  from  that  far-off  land  gave  a  certain 


ABANDONED   UUT,   N0KTHWE8T  COAST. 


\u 


TIIK    ni.EAK    NO'ilTII-WERT   COAST. 


Froncliinan  named  Grosselior  tiie  idea  of  j)laiitin<:]f  a 
fiir-tradiuij^  colony  tliere.  He  at  once  wen.^  to  the  min- 
ister witli  his  phm.  The  minister,  liovvever,  woidd  not 
listen  to  him.  Grosselier  then  went  to  Prir.ce  Ivnpei't,^ 
who  was  sta3ing  at  Paris,  to  ask  for  the  aid  he  wanted. 
Stinck  with  the  scheme,  the  }»riDce  became  its  patron. 

ship  was  sent  out,  with  Grosselier,  in  1GG8,  which 
reached  the  head  of  James'  Bay,^  where  Fort  Charles 
was  built.  The  next  year.  Prince  Rupert,  and  seven- 
teen others,  were  incorix)rated  into  a  compan}-,  with 
power  granted  them  to  make  settlements  and  carry  on 
trade  in  IIn<lson's  Bav. 

In  this  way  the  since  famous  Hudson's  Bay  Coni- 
l^any  obtained  a  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade  of  all  that 
region,  which  afterward  proved  so  valuable  to  it.  Its 
powers  were  most  ample.  It  could  hold  and  convey 
land,  fit  out  ships,  erect  forts,  or  make  war  with  the 
peoples  of  that  country,  but  all  this  was  to  be  (h)ne  in 
its  character  as  a  trading-company ;  and  though  it  had  ;i 
resident  governor,  the  central  authority  was  kept  in  tlu^ 
company,  in  London,  who  continued  to  direct  its  affairs. 

In  the  earlier  yeai-s  of  its  existence  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  had  a  hard  struggle  for  life.  We  know 
that  French  traders  formerly  had  dealings  vith  the 
natives  of  that  dreary  inland  sea.  Jealousy  iioav 
prompted  them  to  try  to  drive  the  English  thence  hy 
force,  and  so  get  rid  of  their  rivalry.  To  this  end  rt- 
l)eated  attacks  WTre  made  upon  the  English  factoiies.* 
which  were  taken  and  retaken,  first  by  one  and  then  by 
another  assailant.  Even  in  time  of  peace  the  FreiK  li 
had  not  scrupled  to  assault  these  remote  posts,  so  un- 
willing were  Canadians  to  see  the  English  gain  a  foot- 
hold in  that  quarter. 


THE    HLKAK    NUKTIl-WKST   CnAST. 


135 


Tliese  invasions  were  (luieted  at  last  i)V  tlu;  treaty  ol' 
Utreciit  (1718),  whieli  left  tlie  English  in  possession 
ol"  what  they  had  battled  with  toes  of  every  sort  to 
seeure  for  themselves. 

Coninmnieation  had  with  the  natives,  who  were 
nomads,  taught  the  English  how  to  make  distant  jonr- 


111 

ad  ii 

tlu- 

aivs. 

,oirs 

now 

the 

d  re- 
tries.* 
n  hy 

)  \in- 
foot- 


UUUSON  S    BAY   COMPANY  S  UUUHE,  LONDON. 

neys,  and  gradually,  with  their  aid,  to  penetrate  farther 
and  fjirther  into  the  interi«ir.  liut  to  live  in  the  eountry 
at  all,  they  had,  in  a  great  measure,  to  adapt  themselves 
tn  the  natives'  way  of  life,  and  to  nuike  journeys  they  had 
to  adopt  the  rude  eonveyanees  found  in  use  among  them. 


'  Henuy  UrnsoN.  Tho  Hnmc  who 
diiiciivcrcd  und  iiuinod  IliuUun  Hlver  of 
Niw  York. 

-  I'KINCE  RiPKUT.of  Rnvnria,  com 
maiiilfil  tlu'  caviiliy  itf  CIiuiIch  I.  durliikt 
th.i "ivll War (lt)4'2)  nfu-rthc |{cf>tt)ialii)ii 
h^'  ik'voted  liituself  to  Kcieiititiu  puri'uiU). 


»  James'  IIav.  Like  nnvis,  IJamii, 
HiidHon,  etc  ,  tliu  nuiiic  im  that  of  an 
arctic  naviifntor.  It  opciiH  at  the  Ixit- 
'oin  of  niidr>oiri<  \\:\y. 

*  TiiK  Enui.ism  Fa<  TuitiKs,  at  tliat 
tiiiu',  wiTf  ForU  Ncliton,  Alliatiy,  Uaym 
ami  liuiwrt. 


130 


HUDSON  S   BAY   TO   THE  SOUTH    SEA. 


HUDSON'S   BAY  TO   THE   SOUTH   SEA. 

"  Many  a  shoal  marks  this  stern  coast." 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  grant  was  meant  to 
promote  the  discovery  of  a  North-west  Passage  to  India: 
so  the  people  of  England,  in  giving  away  such  hirge 
privileges,  expected  this  would  be  done  without  delay. 
But  the  company,  at  first,  made  little  or  no  effort  in 
this  direction.  It  was  chiefly  occupied  with  making 
money,  and  making  it  from  the  start.  Hence  every 
thing  was  made  to  work  to  that  end. 

England  did  not  know  what  she  was  doing  when  she 
created  this  monopoly.  Ignt>rance  led  to  delusion,  and 
delusion  to  the  inconsiderate  granting  away  of  an  em- 
pire. It  was  thought  the  company  would  explore  and 
settle  its  grant,  and  thus  England  would  reap  the  bene 
fits  without  spending  a  penny.  The  company,  on  the 
other  hand,  meant  to  do  nothing  of  the  sort,  unless 
driven  to  it  by  popular  clamor.  Then  it  would  do  as 
little  as  it  could.  Colonization  was  fatal  to  the  fur- 
trade,  and  the  company  was  an  association  of  fur-traders, 

nothing  else. 
Hence,  given 
a  warehouse 
in  London,  a 
ship  to  carry 
goods      back 

and  forth,  a  port  and  factory  at  Hudson's  Bay,  a  score 
or  more  of  trading-posts  scattered  here  and  there  over 
a  vast  extent  of  territory,  to  which  the  hunters  could 
bring  furs  and  get  goods  at  the  com[)any's  price,  and 
we  have,  briefly  told,  the  whole  machinery  of  this  giant 


HUDSON'S   BAY  8LKD,   LOAOBU 


HUDSON. S    BAY   TO    THK   SOUTH    SEA. 


137 


monopoly.  In  dealing  with  the  outside  world  it  pur- 
sued a  policy  of  Spanish  exclusion  and  silence.  It  was 
not  making  history,  but  money. 

Yet  the  company  was  all  the  time  building  better 
than  it  knew,  for  even  the  coming  and  going  of  its  own 
traders  gradually  enlarged  geographical  knowledge  of 
the  country,  so  smoothing  the  way  for  the  future. 

From  time  to  time  the  natives  who  came  to  the  fac- 
tories showed  specimens  of  copper  ore,  which  they  said 
tame  from  the  Far  Off  Metal  River  of  the  North.  The 
English  traders  consequently  named  it  the  Coppermine. 
It  became  an  object  with  them  to  find  the  mine,  or 
mines,  whence  these  specimens  had  been  taken.  The 
governor  accordingly  (1769)  sent  one  of  his  most  trusty 
men  into  the  unknown  wilderness  in  search  of  them. 

Taking  with  him  some  Indian  guides,  and  living  as 
they  lived,  that  is  to  say  one  day  fasthig  and  the  next 
feasting,  as  game  was  found  plenty  or  scarce,  Samuel 
llearne  only  succeeded  in  getting  to  the  Coppermine 
after  making  three  attempts  to  do  so.  His  story  is  a 
wondrous  record  of  jiersevering  endurance.  He  found 
the  sacred  character  of  the  calumet  everywhere  ac- 
knowledged, even  by  the  most  degraded  tribes.  When 
they  had  once  smoked  together  the  stranger  was  as  safe 
from  injury  or  insult  as  in  his  own  house,  though 
nothing  could  exceed  the  curiosity  which  his  white  skin, 
blue  eyes  and  light  hair,  all  so  different  from  their  own, 
caused  among  the  Indians  he  met  in  his  journey. 

The  Coppermine  was  found  to  run  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  instead  of  Hudson's  Bay,  as  Hearne  supposed  it 
did  when  he  first  set  out,  but  no  copper  could  be  dis- 
covered worth  the  taking  of  such  a  journey  to  look  for, 
a>i  liis.     Hearne  came  back  (1772)  at  the  end  of  a  year 


138 


HUDSON'S    BAY    TO   THE   SOUTH   SILV. 


and  a  lialf,  having  established  the  sliore  line  of  the 
northern  ocean  at  a  point  where  hind  only  was  snpposed 
to  be.  This  was  considered  a  great  geographical  dis- 
covery. Thus,  year  by  year,  a  little  was  added  here 
and  a  little  there  toward  completing  an  accurate  map 
of  the  north  coast  line. 

In  1789,  a  Scotch  trader,  named  Alexander  Mac- 
kenzie, had  been  living  for  eight  years  past'  at  Fort 
Chipewyan.^  Tliis  was  a  station  nearly  central  between 
Hudson's  liay  and  the  Pacific.  Mackenzie  was  an  ex- 
plorer by  instinct.  He  determined  to  cross  the  conti- 
nent. Once  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  no  thought  of 
hardship  could  deter  him.  His  course  through  the 
Slave  River  and  lakes  led  him  to  the  river  now  bear- 
ing his  own  name, —  the  Mackenzie  River.  Down  this 
stream  the  intrepid  traveller  fl(»ated  in  his  frail  canoe,  to 
its  outlet  upon  the  frozen  Arctic  Sea. 

During  his  trip,  Mackenzie  (juestioned  the  Indians  of 
this  river  about  the  unknown  country  lying  beyond  the 
great  western  wall  of  mountains,  but  found  they  could 
tell  him  little  except  that  the  people  of  that  country 
were  so  exceeding  fierce  no  stranger  durst  go  amonjx 
them.  Rut  Mackenzie  knew  the  Pacific  was  there,  and 
meant  to  reach  it. 

He  first  moved  up  from  Fort  Chipewyan  to  the  east 
foot  of  the  mountains,  so  as  to  get  a  better  start.  He 
wintered  here.  In  the  spring  (1793)^  he  was  ready  t(» 
set  out  again.  One  large,  strong  canoe,  which  held  all 
the  provisions,  and  which  two  men  could  carry  with 
ease,  enabled  the  travellers  to  work  their  slow  and  toil- 
some way  up  the  swollen  mountain  torrents  into  the 
highest  defiles,  from  which  tliey  sprung.  As  the  ex- 
plorers advanced,  the  stream  they  were  ascending  be- 


HUDSON  S    BAY    TO   THE   SOUTH    SEA. 


139 


came  more  <aii(l  more  choked  up  with  rocks  or  fallen 
trees,  and  more  and  more  broken  by  cascades  and 
rapids.  It  was  often  necessary  to  carry  tlie  canoe 
round  or  drag  it  over  these  obstructions,  though  at  the 
cost  of  such  toil  that  the  men  grew  disheartened  and 
wished  to  turn  back,  thinking  the  task  a  hopeless  one. 
Unsparing  of  himself,  Mackenzie  put  courage  into  the 
downhearted,  and  after  a  short  rest  all 
were  ready  to  go  on  again. 

Falling,  at  length,  among  the  Indians 
who  dwelt  among  the  mountains,  Mac- 
kenzie found  iLat  the  rest  of  the  journey 
would  be  much  shortened  by  leaving 
liis  canoes  and  proceeding  by  land.  He 
therefore  continued  his  way  by  land,  indian  mask,  west 
constantly  meeting  with  natives  who 
lived  sumptuously  on  the  salmon  that  the  streams 
everywhere  produced  in  great  abundance  and  perfec- 
tion. Mackenzie  soon  found  he  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  these  people.  They  fed  and  sheltered  his  men  in 
their  villages,  and  willingly  helped  him  on  his  way. 
The  fatigues  and  anxieties  of  the  journey  were  nearly 
past,  for  on  the  23d  of  July,  1793,  the  party  of  wliite 
men  arrived  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  near 
the  Straits  of  Fuca. 

Although,  in  relating  the  adventures  of  Mackenzie, 
we  have  gone  somewhat  before  our  story,  the  doing  so 
is  essential  to  its  design,  as  subsequent  chapters  will 
show. 


'  Fonr  Chipewyan  wa«  at  the  foot  of  Athabasca  Lakr,  midway  Ijt'twt^eu  Ihe 
inouiitaiiis  and  UudMon'a  Bay. 


140 


THE   ItrsSlANS    IN    ALASKA. 


,?»^ 


THE   RUSSIANS  IN   ALASKA. 

"  Heauen  is  high  and  the  Czar  distmit.  ' 

IiEFEi:i;iN(J  to  what  Dip'  '  had  done  for  Eiighmd, 
and  I)e  Fiiua  for  Spain,  the  one  tacking  a  name  to  the 
coast  here,  the  otlier  there,  we  find  Httle  for  more  than 
a  century  going-  to  show  that  Europeans  thought  the 
discoveries  of  either  worth  following  up. 

What  do  we  then  see?  Not  Spain,  not  England  [tut- 
ting forth  a  steady  hand  to  grasp  the  prize  each  al- 
ready claimed  as  its  own,  but  a  new  power,  coming  not 

from  the  East, 
but  from  tiie 
West.  It  is  a 
power  hardly 
known  in  Eu- 
rope. It  is 
Russia, 

The     Czar 
;;..—•*••""■    -^-^  _        '"'-•       Peter,    Peter 

&EALS,    ftT.    i'ALL's    INLAND.  tllC     CrrCat      111 

history,  de- 
termined to  know  whether  the  two  grand  continents. 
Asia  and  America,  were  joined  in  one,  or  separated  by  a 
northern  ocean.  Peter  died  before  the  orders  given  for 
this  purpose  could  be  carried  out,  but  Catherine,  his 
empress  and  successor,  sent  Captain  Behring  ^  of  the 
royal  navy  to  execute  them. 

Sailing  from  Kamschatka  (1728),  Behring  followed 
the  coast  of  Asia  round  to  the  north-west,  finding  open 
water  everywhere,  and  so  determining  the  separation  of 
the  continents.     In  a  second  voyage  (1741)  he  put  out 


THI<:    RUSSIANS    IN    ALASKA. 


141 


to  sea,  tliis  time  rjilling  in  with  the  Ainerieiin  coast,  dis- 
covering Mt.  St.  Elias  and  the  Aleutian  archipehigo. 

During  this  voyage  IJehring's  vessel  was  thrown 
upon  an  island  and  wrecked,  and  he  himself  died  niiser- 
ahly  there,  but  some  of  his  sailors  huilt  themselves  a 
vessel  out  of  the  wreck,  in  which  they  succeeded  in  get- 
ling  back  to  Kanischatka,  bringing  with  them  the  furs  of 
the  sea-otters  and  foxes  they 
liad  killed  and  eaten  while 
living  upon  the  desert  island. 

F  r  o  m  the 
time  of  these 
discoveries, 
Russian  adven- 
t  urers,  who  ^ 
were  little  bet- 
ter than  daring 
freebooters, 
crossed  over 
the  narrow  seas 
to  the  Aleutian 

Isles,  to  kill  the  sea-otters  for  their  fur,  thus  opening 
between  them  and  Ochotsk,  and  between  Ochotsk  and 
the  Chmese  frontier,  next  Siberia,  by  means  of  cara- 
vans, a  trade  in  the  valuable  furs  for  which  these  islands 
are  so  famous. 

In  time,  these  roving  traders  were  followed  by  a  few 
actual  colonists,  who  were  brought  over  from  Siberia  or 
Kumschatka  to  aid  in  establishing  i)ermanent  trading- 
l)0sts2  at  suitable  points.  But  the  country  possessed  no 
other  resources  except  its  fur-trade.  The  early  traders 
had  cruelly  oppressed  the  natives,  hence  the  first  colo- 
nists were  looked  upon  as  enemies,  and  treated  as  such 


nCSSIAN   CUURCII,   ALASKA. 


•J  42 


THE    i{lJSSlANS    IN   ALASKA. 


by  tlioni.  Some  niissioniiries  of  the  Greek  Church  were 
also  sent  over  to  care  for  the  souls  of  these  poor  people, 
who  Ix'l'ore  had  no  knowledge  of  Christianity. 

There  were  no  elements  of  thrift  in  this  colony,  con- 
secjuently  it  could  never  make  healthy  progress.  At 
best  the  people  were  little  better  than  vassals,  while  the 
Indians  were  hardly  more  than  slaves.  The  land  is  too 
cold  for  agriculture.  The  people  have  but  one  occupa- 
tion, that  of  seal-hunting. 

The  fur-trade  was  at  first  conducted  by  private  per- 
sons, l)ut  eventually  the  control  passed  to  one  large 
company,  sanctioned  by  the  crown  under  the  form  of 
The  Russian  American  Company,  with  headquarters 
first  at  Kodiak  and  then  at  Sitka.^ 

This  company  claimed  the  whole  coast  of  America, 
on  the  Pacific,  with  the  adjacent  islands,  from  Behring 
Straits  southward  to,  and  beyond,  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River. 


'  HEnniNo  STiiArT?,  ami  Sea,  take 
Iheir  name  from  IhiH  navigator,  —  Vitus 
Dehring,  or  Ut-ring.  According  to  a 
map  published  by  tlio  Im|)c>rial  Academy 
of  St.  Petersburg,  Behring  touched  his 
farthest  southerly  i>4)int  on  out  coast 
closely  under  the  sixtieth  ])arallel,  at 
wliat  is  called,  on  some  maps,  Admiralty 
or  Ik'hring's  Hay.  His  consort  Tchiri- 
kow's  track  is  extended  to  55*  36'.  In 
the  narrowest  part  of  Uehring's  Straits  it 
is  only  thirty  six  miles  from  Asia  to 
America,  showing  how  slight  were  the 
obstacles  to  communication,  as  compared 


with  the  three  thousand  miles  separating 
America  from  Europe. 

«  Permanent  TRADfNG-PosTs  were 
lx>gun  on  Oonalaska  about  1773,  and  Ko- 
diak 1783.  In  1789  there  were  eight  of 
these  posts,  with  two  hundred  and  Hfty 
Russians.  A  Russian  iK>st  was  also 
established  at  St.  Michael's,  Norton 
Bound. 

»  SiTK  \  was  founded  to  check  the 
encroachments  of  the  Uudson's  Bay 
Company.  Alaska  was  purauased  by 
the  United  States  In  1867,  during  the 
presidency  of  Andrew  Johusou. 


KNtJLAKD   ON    THE    PACIFIC. 


143 


ENGLAND  ON   THE   PACIFIC. 

"  Ye  mariners  of  England  I"  —  Campbell. 

England's  cdiKjuest  of  Canada  *  (176:3)  put  a  wliolly 
new  face  upon  tlio  situation  in  America.  She  was  now, 
Iteyond  (lis[)ute,  the  foremost  power  of  this  continent. 

Hardly  liad  the  echoes  of  this  conllict  died  away, 
when  a  new  power  arose  to  contend  with  Enghind  for 
wluit  she  liad  just  torn  from  tlie  grasp  of  France.  This 
was  lier  own  American  colonies,  whose  people  had  now 
l)cen  driven  to  take  up  arms  (1775)  against  the  mother 
country,  in  defence  of  their  dearest  political  riglits.  So 
England  gained  Canada,  but  lost  her  own  colonies. 
Slie  wrested  power  from  France,  only  to  see  it  snatclied 
t'lom  her  own  grasp  in  the  moment  of  victory,  though, 
alter  all,  it  was  no  less  a  victory  for  the  Englisli-speak- 
iug  race  over  all  her  Latin-sj)eaking  rivals.  It  must  be 
seen  that  events  like  these  would  have  far-reaching 
effects  in  shai)ing  our  history. 

Yet  while  the  conflict  with  lier  colonies  ^vas  going  on, 
and  both  i)arties  were  in  the  thick  of  the  actual  fight- 
ing, England  was  putting  forth  efforts  to  control  the 
Ldiiimerce  of  the  North-west  Coast. 

For  this  purpose  it  would  be  essential  to  have  accu- 
rate surveys  of  all  important  harbors  and  sounds,  in 
order  to  select  sites  for  future  settlements,  and  above 
all  of  any  navigable  rivers  flowing  from  the  east  out 
upon  the  coast,  that  might  afford  a  practicable  route 
into  the  interior,  and  so  connect  this  coast  with  the 
settlements  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

With  this  end  in  view,  two  discovery  ships  were  sent 
tmt  (1770),  in  command  of  Captain  James  Cook,'"^  with 


144 


KN(JIiANn   ON    TIIK    PACIFir. 


HNOW   SPECTACLES,   ALASKA. 


onlors  to  soarcli  the  coast  of  New  Albion  for  any  navi- 
<,'i»l)le  liver  north  of  tlie  fortj'-fiftli  par.illel.  England 
eh>arly  meant  to  re-assert  her  claim  to  sovereignty,''  set 
up  so  long  ago  in  her  behalf  by  Sir  Francis  Drake. 

On  board  C'ook's  ship  were  two  persons  with  wliom 
our  story  will  have  to  deal.  One  was  Midshipman 
N'aneouver,  the  other  Corporal  Led^-ard  of  the  marines. 

Cook  first  dis- 
covered and  named 
the  Sandwich  Isl- 
ands.* Shaping  his 
course  thence  for 
the  American  coast,  he  fell  in  with  (1778)  and  named 
Cape  Flattery.^  Steering  now  northward  with  the  coast 
always  in  sight.  Cook  at  length  found  a  broad  basin, 
which  the  Indians  called  Nootka,  and  which  lias  since 
been  known  as  Nootka  Sound.^  The  ships  lay 
here  all  the  month  of  April,  refitting,  and  get- 
ting ready  for  the  coming  cruise  in  the  arctic 
seas,  which  Cook  was  instructed  to  explore  for 
the  wished-for  passage  into  Hudson's  Bay. 

Except  for  their  propensity  to  steal,  which 
nothing  could  control.  Cook  found  the  natives 
of  Nootka  a  friendly  people,  though  they  were 
no  longer  abashed  in  the  presence  (»f  white  men, 
or  afraid  of  their  loud-roaring  cannon,  as  in 
the  time  of  Drake.  Many  wore  brass  or  silver 
trinkets.  Most  of  them  had  tools  of  iron  which 
they  had  made  for  themselves,  and  could  use 
with  skill.  Passing  ships  would  therefore  seem 
to  have  brought  these  tribes  into  unfrequent 
communication  with  Europeans,  so  that  Cook's  coming 
neither  surprised  nor  intimidated  them  ;  while  the  arti- 


INDIAN 
CABVINH. 


cles 
that 
perha 

by  CO  I 
to  the 
cunilx 
graiid( 
now  (• 
The 
tlio   CO 
licnd  t 
!ind  stc 
shores 
siila. 
tlie   Cu 
Straits 
Insinjr 
tor  niak 
world    i 
systems 
Pacific 
Gettii 
ka,  C  J 
wliich  h( 
t'»  bend 
tliiDUirh 
IS  Icy  ( 
^topped 
iibout  ai: 
'it'  ancho 

From 
^liore  in  I 


Y  nfivi- 
ngland 
ty,=^  sot 

B. 

wliom 
liipman 
larines. 
st  clis- 
i  named 
ich  Isl- 
ping  his 
nee  for 

named 
lie  coast 
1  basin, 
as  since 


KNCI.ANh   ON    TIIK    TAiMFK?. 


145 


INDIAN 
CARVlMi- 

[coming 
Ihe  arti- 


cles in  tlieir  possession  acquainted  him  witli  the  fact 
tliat  ntlier  navigators  had  passtMl  that  way  l)efore  liim, 
perliaps  with  views  simihir  to  his  <»wn. 

U[)on  again  setting  sail,  Cook  was  hhjwn  (AX  the  coast 
by  contrary  winds.  When  he  again  saw  it,  he  was  far 
to  the  north  of  Nootka.  lie  saw  and  name(l  Alt.  Kdge- 
cund)e  as  he  saile<l ;  then  Mt.  St.  Klias  rose  in  solitary 
grandeur  before  them,  giving  Cook  notice  that  he  was 
now  crossing  the  track  of  the  Russian  discoverers. 

The  ships  continued  to  skirt 
the   coast   until    its  westward 
trend  forced  them  to  put  about, 
and  steer  south-west,  along  the 
siiores  of  the  Alaskan   penin- 
sula.     Cook  had  missed  both 
tlie   Columbia  River  and  the 
Straits    of    Fuca,    thus 
losing   his   one    chance 
tor  making  known  to  the 
U(jrld   the   great  water 
systems    of    the    north 
Pacific. 

Getting  clear  of  Alas- 
ka, C  jk  came  to  Oonalaska,  of  the  Aleutian  group, 
which  he  doubled.  Then,  finding  the  coast  beyond  him 
to  hcnd  in  the  desired  direction,  again  he  sailed  <m 
tlirough  Hehring's  Straits  into  the  Arctic  Ocean  as  far 
IS  Icy  Cape  (70°  29'),  at  which  i)oint  his  ships  were 
>ln|)ped  by  ice.  Finding  he  could  go  no  farther,  he  put 
al)out  and  returned  to  Oonalaska,  where,  in  October, 
lie  anchored. 

From  this  anchorage  Corporal  Ledyard  was  sent  on 
shore  in  search  of  the  Russian  traders,  then  known  to 


INDIAN   OHAVE,    NOUTU-WEST  COAST. 


140 


KN(JLAND   ON    TIIK    TArlKIC. 


1)0  liviiiij  f)ii  tlie  island,  wli(»in  lie  tound,  and  brought 
hack  witli  liiin  to  the  sliii)8.  Getting  little  from  these 
people,  tor  want  of  interi)reters,  C'ook  sailed  back  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  the  natives  of  Owyhee 
tr(!aclierouslv  killed  him  while  he  was  on  shore. 

The  furs  whicli  Cook's  sailors  obtained  from  the 
natives  of  Nootka,  in  exchange  for  knives,  buttons  and 
other  trilles,  were  sold  at  Canton,  China,  for  more  than 
ten  thousand  dcdlars.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
trade  between  Nootka  and  Canton,  which,  during  the 
next  decade,  was  the  means  of  bringing  many  British 
vessels  to  the  North-west  Coast. 

It  is  instructive  to  remember  that,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  American  colonies  were  throwing  off  their 
allegiance,  Cook  was  (juietly  exploring  the  North-west 
Coast,  in  the  interests  of  peaceful  expansion,  which,  in 
the  end,  was  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  those  colonies. 


'  Conquest  op  Canada    wa«   the 
result    of    the  Seven    Years'    War    in 
Europe.    Nearly  all   the  i>owcrH   were 
Involved  in  it.     When  peace  was  made, 
all  that  France  held  eaHt  of  the  Missin 
Bippi   River,    under  the  naine8   Louirii 
ana  or  Canada,  except  New  Orleans,  was 
given   up  to   England.      New  OrleauH, 
with  all  that  France  claimed  west  of  the 
MiHHisHippi,  had  already  (17fi'2)  been  pri 
vately  ceded  by  France  to  Spain. 

*  James  Cook  entered  the  navy  ah  a 
cabin  hoy.  lie  stootl  at  the  head  of  Eiig- 
li«h  navigatorB  since  Drake.  The  gov- 
ernment kept  his  discoveries  secret  till 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  To  their 
honor,  all  the  belligerents  gave  orders 
that  he  should  not  be  moleeted  by  their 
forces. 

•''  Her  Claim  to  Soveiieignty.  It 
was  known  in  England,  before  C'ook 
Bailed,  that  Spaidsh  navisrators  were 
again  working  their  way  up  the  coast. 
(See  voyages  of  Juan  Perez  1774,  Bruno 


Hector  and  Bodega  1775,  in  Bancroft.) 
The  Spaniards  knew  the  value  of  the  fur 
seal  in  commerce. 

*  Sandwich  Islands,  so  named  for 
the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  then  first  lord  of 
the  Admiralty. 

"  Cape  Flattery,  on  the  maiiilanil, 
at  the  south  entrance  to  the  Straiti<  of 
Fuca,  and  landmark  of  those  straits. 

0  Nootka  Sound,  Vancouver  Island. 
Taken  possession  of  by  Spain,  1"S9. 
The  English  navigators  Cook,  Mi'itres 
and  Vancouver,  being  unable  to  find  an- 
other good  harbor  between  Cape  Mimlo- 
cino  and  Cape  Flattery,  hit  upon  Nnotka 
as  possessing  the  requirements  of  a  port 
for  their  nation.  Upon  this  a  quaiitl 
arose  with  Spain,  which  claimed  Nootka 
in  virtue  of  prior  discovery.  In  tbf  iiiJ 
Spain  was  obliged  to  relinquish  Nootka 
to  England.  Vancouver,  who  gavi'  hi« 
name  to  the  large  island  to  which  Nootka 
Sound  ))eloiigH,  reachwi  the  coast  .April. 
1792,  near  Cape  Mendocino,  but  strangely 


KNCLANl)   ON    TIIK    I'ACI  IMC. 


147 


iiii^Hod  llic  ('oltiinliia  Kivcr,  thotiKli  In- 
<  arcfully  looked  for  itiiy  (i)>oiiiiii{  in  tliu 
I'liii^t  line,  wlilcli  he  tlcclarcd  to  he  iin- 
broki'ii  from  Mendocino  to  Cape  Flat- 
tery. Vancoiiver'M  Hur\'eyM  were  to  till 
the  K<>P  left  open  hy  Cuok  when  ho  wm* 


lilown  off  the  cnnri.  IIIh  paonaKe 
IhronL'h  llieStrallH  of  l''ncu  had  lieen  an- 
ticipated Ity  Captain  Keiidrick,  of  the 
Aniericnn  nloop  •'  \Va»«hinKlon,"  in  IT'.m), 
IhuM  tirxt  verifyinK  the  long  dUpiited 
fact  uf  thu  exixteiicv  uf  thone  HtraltH. 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

Thouofi  Elizal)etli  was  no  well  calculated  to  pfovrrn 
with  ability,  and  even  with  that  glory  and  advantage 
tt>  her  people  which  England  liad  never  witnessed 
under  any  of  its  preceding  sovereigns;  —  though  her 
iulininistration  was  so  vigorously  and  equitably  exor- 
cised, and  all  her  plans  and  negotiations  so  ably  and 
successfully  conducted  ;  —  though,  in  short,  she  was 
i'<|ually  revered  and  obeyed,  as  a  sovereign,  at  home, 
and  she  was  feared  and  respected  abroad;  —  yet  was 
Elizabeth  a  very  weak  and  silly  woman  in  trifling  con- 
cerns. She  seemed  a  Goliath  in  the  conduct  of  the 
mighty  affairs  of  empires  ;  but  dwindled  into  a  very 
woman,  when  the  color,  fancy,  or  fashion  of  a  dress 
became  the  topic.  Nor  was  she  free  from  the  little 
petty  vexations,  jealousies,  and  rivalship  of  beauty,  so 
natural  to  her  sex.  Indeed,  it  appears  that  she  hated 
and  envied  her  cousin,  the  beautiful  Mary  of  Scots, 
less  on  account  of  her  pretensions  to  the  crown,  than 
for  her  superior  charms.  When  Mary  sent  Sir  James 
Melville  to  London,  to  endeavor  to  establish  a  good 
understanding  with  Elizabeth,  he  was  instructed  by 
Maiy  to  sound  her  cousin  on  subjects  that  would  inter- 
est her  rather  as  a  woman  than  a  queen.  "  He  accord- 
ingly succeeded  so  well,"  says  Hume,  "  that  he  threw 
that  aitful  princess  entirely  off  her  guard,  and  made 


14.S 


VUKKN    KIJZAItKTII. 


her  (lii^cover    the    hottoiii    of   her  lioart, 
vanities,  and  follies,  and  ideas  of  livalsh 
sess  the  youngest  and  most  frivolous  ()f 
talked  to  her  of  his  travels,  and  forgot 


nil   of  those 
►,  which  pos- 
lor  sex.     II(^ 
not  to  mention 
the     (lilVcr- 
ont  dresses 
of    the    l;i- 
(lies  in  dil- 
ferentcouii- 
tries;    and 
she    took 
care  thence- 
forth    to 
meet   t  li  e 
ambassador 
every     dny 
apparelled 
in  a  dill'er- 
ent    hahit  : 
sometinus 
she      w  ii  s 
dressed    in 
the  English 
garb,  sonie- 
tinies    ill 
the  French, 
sometimes 
in  the  Ital- 
r  most?    lie 
lew  would  1)C 
ed  to  advan- 
tage her  flowing  hair,  which  he  remarked,  though  more 
red   than  yellow,  she  fancied  to  be   the   finest  in  the 


Vl'EEM   ULlZxaKTU. 


ian  ;  and  she  asked  him  which  became  h 
answered,  the  Italian,  — a  rejdy  that  he  k 


agi 


eeable  to  lier,  because  that  mode  show 


gUEEN    ELIZABETH. 


149 


world.  She  (U'siriid  to  know  of  him  what  was  reputod 
to  be  the  best  color  of  hair ;  she  asked  whether  his 
•  jueen  or  she  had  the  finest  color  of  luiir;  slie  even  in- 
([uired  which  of  them  he  esteemed  the  fairest  person, 
—  a  very  delicate  question,  and  which  lie  prudently 
eluded,  by  saying  that  her  majesty  was  the  fairest 
person  in  England,  and  his  mistress  in  Scotland.  She 
next  demanded  which  of  them  was  tallest.  lie  replied, 
his  queen.  'Then  she  is  too  tall,'  said  Elizabeth,  *for  I 
myself  am  of  a  just  stature.' " 

It  is  a  saying,  that  the  greatest  lieroes  are  not  so  in 
the  opinion  of  their  valets  ;  an<l  it  may  with  e<iual  truth 
he  said  of  this  celebrated  princess,  that,  however  she 
might  .appear  a  great  heroine  to  the  wiu-ld,  she  was  still 
nothing  more  than  a  frail  woman  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  best  knc  V  her  private  and  undisguised  thoughts, 
feelings  and  actions.  —  Anon. 


INTERLUOE.-WHAT    JONATHAN    CARVER    AIMED   TO  DO 

IN  1766. 

It  so  hapi)ened,  that  after  the  conquest  of  Canada, 
an  American,  and  veteran  of  that  war,  named  Jonathan 
Carver,  conceived  the  idea  of  crossing  the  continent  l)y 
way  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  tributaries  of  the  Missis- 
sipi)i.  After  attentively  studying  the  French  maps, 
and  reading  the  accounts  of  Hennepin  and  Lahontan, 
lie  believed  this  c(>uld  be  done. 

Carver's  avowed  purpose  was,  first,  to  ascertain  the 
breadth  of  the  continent.  If  successful  in  reachuig 
the  i'ucific,  he  meant  to  have  proposed  to  the  English 
government  the  establishment  «)f  a  permanent  port  on 


loO        WHAT   .JONATHAN    CARVER    AIMKD    TO    DO. 


that  coast.  lie  was  convinced  tliat  tliis  was  tlie  true 
way  to  the  discovery  of  the  Nerth-west  Passage,  whicli 
Drake  had  attemi»ted  so  U»ng  ago,  justly  reasoning  that 
it  wouhl  be  easier  to  sail  from  the  west  than  from  the 
east,  while  the  loss  of  time  consequent  upon  the  long- 
voyages  from  England,  with  the  ilelays  and  perils  inci- 
dent to  Arctic  navigation,  would  be  much  lessened  by 
having  such  a  depot  as  he  proposed.  And  it  would  also 
greatly  facilitate  communication  between  Hudson's  Bay 
and  the  Pacific. 

Carver  thought  further,  that  a  settlement  on  that  side 
of  the  continent  wonld  not  only  open  up  new  sources 
of  trade,  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  also  "  promote 
many  useful  discoveries,  but  would  open  a  way  for  con- 
veying intelligence  to  China  and  the  English  settle- 
ments in  the  East  Indies  with  greater  expedition  than 
a  tedious  voyage  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  or  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  would  allow  of." 

Whether  it  originated  in  his  own  brain  or  not,  so  far 
as  known,  Carver  was  the  lirst  boldly  to  set  before  the 
English  i)eople  the  idea  of  going  across  the  American 
continent  in  India,  —  the  idea  that  has  eventually  solved 
the  whole  problem. 

Convinced  that  his  undert.aking  was  practicable,  Car- 
ver started  from  Michilimackinac  in  September,  176(>, 
in  company  with  some  traders  who  were  going  amom;" 
the  Sioux  by  the  old  route  leading  through  (ireen  Bay, 
Fox  River  and  the  Wisconsin.  What  he  could  learn 
about  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  seems  to 
liave  determined  Carver  to  fix  his  final  starting-point 
somewhere  about  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

These  falls  w-ere  reached  on  the  17th  of  Novendn  r. 
When  Carver  came  to  the  point  overlooking  them,  his 


WHAT   .JONATHAN    CAIIVKU    AIMKI)    TO    DO.        151 

Indian  guide  .surprised  liini  by  beginning  to  chunt  aloud 
an  invocation  to  the  spirit  of  tlie  waters.  While  doing 
this  lie  was  stri]»i»ing  olT  first  one.  then  another,  of  his 
ornaments,  and  casting  them  horn  him  into  the  stream, 
rirst  he  threw  in  Ids  pipe,  then  his  tobacco,  then  the 
bracelets  he  wore  on  his  arms  and  wrists,  and  lastly 
his  necklace  and  ear-rings.     When  he  had  thus  divested 


FALLS  or  8T.   ANTUONV 


^'ff 


himself  of  every  article  of  value   --  -  -;^ 
lie   possessed,    the   Indian   con-    - 
eluded  his  prayer  of  adoration     ' 
with  which  his  propitiatory  offer- 
ings were  so  freely  joined.    Car- 
ver's   journey,    in    this    direction, 
ended  at  the  River  St.  Francis.      Returning  south  he 
ascended  the  St.  Peter's,  or  Miiniesota  River,  by  his  own 
account,  for  a  distance  of   two  hundred  miles,  to  the 
villages  of  the  Sioux  with  whom  he  passed  the  winter. 

Rut  after  thus  penetrating  far  into  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Minnesota,  Carver  found  himself  unable  to 
proceed.  The  gifts  that  were  to  be  sent  after  him,  and 
which  were  essential  to  se(!uring  a  safe-conduct  among 


V)2       WHAT   JONATHAN    CAllVKIt    AIMKD   TO   DO. 


/ 


the  Indian  nations  on  liis  route,  did  not  eonic.  No 
alternative  therefore  remained  but  to  go  haek  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  the  great  Indian  trading-mart  of  all  that 
region,  where  the  explorer  finally  gave  up  the  attemjtt 
to  go  west  at  this  time.  He  then  returned  to  Canada 
by  way  of  the  St.  C'roix  and  Lake  Superior,  bringing 
with  'him  the  information  gained  l)y  a  seven  months* 

residenee    among    the 
Sioux. 

Carver's  Travels 
were  published  in  Eng- 
land in  1778,  ten  3X'ars 
after  his  return,  al- 
though his  notes  and 
mnps  had  been  in  the 
government's  posses- 
sion for  st)me  years, 
l)ermission  to  publish 
them  having  been  re- 
fused him. 

It  is  here   that   we 

first  find  the  name  of 

Oregon,^  given  to  the 

great  river  of  the  Pa- 

eific   slope.     Carver  speaks  of  it   repeatedly  as  "  the 

river  of  tlie  West  that  falls  into  the  Paeifie  Oeean." 

This  explorer  afterward  (1774)  decided  to  renew  the 
effort  to  cross  America,  his  indicated  route  being  u[) 
the  St.  Peter's  to  its  head,  thence  across  to  the  Missouri, 
up  this  stream  to  its  source,  and,  after  discovering 
the  source  of  the  ''Oregon  or  River  of  the  West, on  the 
other  side  the  sunnnit  of  the  dividing  highlands,"  to 
descend  it  to  the  sea.     His  purpose  was  frustrated  by 


•>i\  W 


'SAkM'^ 


•4uS^-J^ 


%• 


INDIAN    BIJUAL.  MCAFFOL.U. 


WHAT    JONATHAN    CAUVKIt    AIMKD    TO    I K ».        A')'.] 


ihc  Will'  ht'lwoeii  JOiifiliUid  aiul  tlio  colouios.  lit;  lias, 
iidWt'VtT,  iMii  (iM  record  liis  ojiiiiion  touL*liiii«»;  tlie  future 
i>t'  the  great  Mississip[)i  valley.     Tliis  is  liis  pr(»i)lieey  : 

"  To  what  iiowcr  or  authority  tliis  new  world  will  bccomo  dc- 
ppuclent,  after  it  has  aristni  from  its  jiri'seiit  mn-ultivatt'd  sUiic, 
tiiiK!  alone  can  discover.  lUit  as  th(!  seat  of  empire,  fnjm  tim<! 
immemorial,  has  Keen  gradually  i)ro;^ressivo  towards  the  west,  there 
is  no  doubt  hut  that  at  some  future  period,  mighty  kingdoms  will 
emerge  from  tiiese  wildernesses,  and  stately  i)alaces,  iind  solenm 
u'Miples,  with  gilded  spir(!S,  reaching  the  sl<ies,  sup[»lant  the  Indian 
huts  whos(j  only  decorations  are  the  barbarous  tropiiies  of  their 
vautiuished  enemies." 


•  OnEfiON.  What  wcro  (.'arvi'i'H 
KoiuTt'K  of  iiifonniition  about  tliin  rivorV 
'l"lii' Sir)ii.\  told  l-'iiilicr  < 'liarlcvoix  forty 
ixlil  yvnvH  carlior  (1721),  that  by  Koiiii? 
u|>  tlio  MUhoui'I,  ixi*  liiub  uh  poH^iblo,  a 
moai  river  wuuki  ln'  found  nitiiiiiii;  wrnt, 
into  tiio  Hoa.  Oarvi-r,  \\v  know,  had  road 
<'huilPvoi.\'H  work.  Yit  the  Sioux  may 
ha\f  told  him  the  t^Miw  floiy,  wliicli  he 
i^>>  cou^laiitiy  rcitcralfrs  in  hiH  own  narra- 
live,  and  wo  know  ii  lo  bo  n  trno  cloiy. 
Slll>^tantiaIly,  ("aivoi'  followod  llio  nainf! 
riiuto  whioh  Maninotle,  Ilonni'iiin,  and 
ullioir*  had  bi'foro  lilia.  This  may  liavc 
(•a>t  doubtH  upon  llio  validity  of  all  ho 
liiiH  tiivon,  a«  of  Ills  own  knowlodt?o. 
Itui  the  main  fact^t  came  within  Iho  kon 
'il  «>  many  porHunn,  who  couUl  have 
hluni|M.-d  llicui  iM  Kpuriuur't  bul  did  uut, 


that   wo   think    llioir    validity    must    bo 
Kiantod. 

I!iil  what  in  the  origin  of  iho  nanii- 
OllKcioN  fiiKt  UKod  by  t'arvor?  lloro  wo 
aio  all  at  xoa.  HonnovilU'  says  the  word 
••innort  from  <  hvyano,  whioli  ho  assorts 
tu  liavo  been  the  early  Spanish  name  for 
tlu'  Columbia  Itivt-r  country — derived 
from  orei^'annm,  the  botanioal  name  for 
the  wild-sai|o  plant,  or  artemisia.  This 
seems  hardly  eonclusivo.  Aijain,  we 
know  the  Spaniards  (»avo  the  name  Los 
Or^anos  ((lri;au  Mountains)  to  a  rani;o 
of  the  Sierra  Madri",  so  it  is  possible 
they  may  have  applied  it  iMdolinitely  to 
the  wholly  ehain,  north  of  New  Mexico. 
r>ut  the  Sioux  could  hardly  have  known 
of  either  derivation,  or  Carver  have  in- 
veiiled  the  luiiuu. 


JOHN   LEDYARD'S  IDEA. 

ConpoHAL  John  Lkdyaki/s  ^  fancy  lia(n)eeii  taken 
captive  l>y  the  exploits  of  ('ai)tain  Cook,  whieh  for  a 
time  fairly  renewed  the  enthusiasm  Drake's  Ixdd  dash 
into  (he  far  South  Sea  had  created  so  long  hefoie. 

Ledyard  was  a  lK)rn  explorer.     Every  thing  he  saw 


ip 


154 


JOHN    LEDYAIJDS    IDEA. 


wliile  under  Cook's  command  was  jotted  down  from 
day  to  day  in  his  diary.  Me  was  quick-witted,  restless, 
and  andjitinus  of  making  liis  way  in  the  workl,  nor  was 
he  sh>w  to  see  the  advantage  tiiat  the  north-west  coast 
offered  to  whomsoever  shoukl  be  first  in  the  fiehk  Hut 
Lodyard  liad  l)een  wearing  King  George's  uniforni, 
though  himself  an  American,  whom  thirst  for  new 
scenes  had  led  to  enlist  under  a  hostile  flag.  When, 
however,  after  liis  return  to  England,  Ledyard  was  sent 
out  to  America,  rather  than  fight  against  his  country 
lie  deserted. 

His  mind  was  filled  with  crude  projects  for  securing 
the  conunerce  of  the  north-west  coast,  not  for  England, 
but  for  America,  and  America  was  now  a  free  repidjlic. 
So  he  had  ind)ibed  at  least  the  s[)irit  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Ledyard  first  tried  to  get  American  merchants  to  fit 
out  a  ship  for  him.  Failing  in  this  he  went  to  France, 
thinking  to  secure  there  the  help  he  wanted. 

It  happened  that  while  Ledyard  was  trying  to  get  U}) 
a  company  to  carry  on  his  schemes,  Louis  XVL  was 
fitting  out  La  Peyrouse  to  follow  up  Cook's  track  in 
the  Pacilic,  and  so  make  good  what  that  eminent  navi- 
gator had  failed  to  make  complete. 

Ledyard  importuned  everybody.  Haunting  those 
who  would  listen  to  him,  borrowing  money  first  from 
one  and  then  another  in  order  to  live,  sometimes  with- 
out a  crown  in  his  pocket,  always  repulsed,  but  never 
despairing,  the  would-be  explorer  woke  and  slept  on 
his  one  ever-[)resent  idea. 

"  I  die  with  anxiety, "  he  says  to  a  friend,  "  to  be  on 
the  back  of  the  American  States,  after  liaving  pene- 
trated to  the  Pacific   Ocean.     There   is   an    extensive 


JOHN    LEDVARHS    IDKA. 


156 


field  for  the  uc(iuiieineiit  of  lionest  fjinie.  The  Aineri- 
can  Revolution  invites  to  a  thorough  discovery  of  the 
continent.  It  was  necessary  that  a  European  should 
discover  America,  but  in  the  name  of  love  of  country 
let  a  native  explore  its  resources  and  boundaries.  It  is 
my  wish  to  be  that  man." 

Thomas  Jefferson  was,  at  this  time  (1785),  our  min- 
ister to  France,  ^'in  every  word  and  deed  the  rej>re- 
sentative  of  a  young,  vigorous  and  determined  state." 
Ledyard  often  sought  his  counsel  and  aid.  Struck  by 
l^edyard's  uncommon  devotion  to  his  one  idea,  Jeflerson 
said  to  him  one  day,  '-  Why  not  go  by  land  to  Kam- 
schatka,  cross  over  in  some  of  the  Russian  vessels  to 
Nootka  Sound,  fall  down  into  the  latitude  of  the  Mis- 
souri, and  penetrate  to  and  through  that  to  the  United 
States  ?  " 

This  conversation  curiously  shows  us  that,  at  the  time 
the  American  Union  was  lirst  formed,  more  was  known 
about  Kamschatka  than  about  the  region  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  ajid  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Tiirough  Sibe- 
ria, at  least,  there  was  a  travelled  route,  while  from 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  there  was  none.  The  con- 
versation is  therefore  an  instructive  starting-point  in  the 
history  of  our  country. 

Although  the  enterprise  itself  failed  to  bear  fruit  at 
tills  time,  the  coming  together  of  these  two  men,  one  of 
whom  became  the  apostle  of  the  American  idea  in  its 
broadest  sense,  was  like  the  striking  together  of  tlint 
and  steel.  Fire  followed  it.  Ledyard  had  the  best 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  Ledyard  i)ointed  out  the 
way.  Ledyard  had  given  Jefferson  something  to  pon- 
«ler,  which,  in  his  sagacious  mind,  soon  grew  to  a  ques- 
tion of  highest  national  importance. 


ir>6 


.KillN    LKI)VAl:i».S    IDKA. 


Lcdyard  ciigeily  agieod  to  nial\o  the  tiijil,  piovidod 
that  tlic  Kussiaii  (lovenmiciit  would  give  its  ctuiseut. 
This  being  gnmtcd,  the  exi)h)rev  set  out  for  Kani- 
schatka ;  but  at  Irkutsk,  in  Siberia,  lie  was  st(>i>i)ed  and 
tunuMl  back,  in  eonse(iuenee  of  the  jeahtusy  of  the  Kns- 
sian-Auieriean  ('onii»any,  whose  liea(h[uarters  were  at 
Irkutsk,  and  who  feared  tlieir  interests  wouhl  be  enchii»- 
gered  if  tliis  daring  stranger  were  permitted  to  pass  into 
their  territory. 

From  this  time  Ledyard's  personal  history  eeases  to 
be  assoeiated  with  that  of  the  (ireat  West.  But  he  was 
th(;  lirst  to  perceive,  perhaps  dimly,  what  was  shortly 
to  become,  with  a  broader  growth,  the  ruling  idea  of 
American  statesmen. 


'  John  I-edyaiid  wbh  a  nntivi'  of 
(lioloii,  Comi. ;  (liorii  I'M,  lirotluT  of 
Coloiii'l  William,  who  fell  in  llic  ilo 
ftihc  of  (iiotoii,  17S1).  John  wool  Hint 
to  Oiiiiiiioiilh  (.'ollii;(>  to  he  litU-il  uh  an 
Indian  inixHioiiary.  In  tho^^c  priniitivu 
thijH  thu  studi-nlH  wire  caik-il  toixftlu-r 
by  (lie  blowinji^of  a  conch-Hhell.  Thon^h 
•inick  and  apt  to  learn,  lA>dyard  liatcd 
Htndy.  Ill*  prt-fi-ncil  cliinbinj^  the  uioun- 
tuinh  about  tho  coIU-ku.  Jn  four  niontlm 
he  ran  away.  Ih-,  liowi'Vi-r,  ri-lurni'd, 
but  lindin)j  the  ri^id  discipline  no  h'on 
irkKOUie  than  before,  made  his  eneape  in 
a  catioe,  iu  wliicb  he  'Hoatid   down  the 


('f)nnooticnl  lliver,  from  llantiver  to 
Hartford,  one  hundred  am'  forty  milen. 
I.eilyard  wan  proud,  nenhilive,  impiilxive, 
and  renlivc  under  eorrecliunor  rehtraiiit. 
I''indinK  liirt  purpo>«e  to  enter  the  minii* 
try  thwarted,  in  a  lit  of  resentment  he 
hhipped  for  the  Mediterranean  as  u  com- 
mon sailor  befoie  the  mast.  This  voyaue 
was  Ledyard's  preparation  for  wrvice 
under  ( 'ook.  lie  was  hi  turn  theological 
student,  sailor,  Holdier,  e.Nplorer,  and  in 
his  make-u[>  all  th  -se  characters  were 
cond)ined  to  prodece  a  ihoruugkgoiug 
e.\iilorer 


A  YANKEE   SHIP   DISCOVERS  THE   COLUMBIA   RIVER. 

With  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  com- 
mercial spirit  of  our  countrymen  began  to  re-assert  itself 
in  deeds  which  should  stamp  them  for  all  time  as  worthy 
sons  of  worthy  sires.  Far  back,  even  when  the  cohmits 
were  but  a  few  feeble   settlements  strung   along   the 


A    VANKKK   SHIP    lUSCnN  KKS   roM   .MIMA     KINKU.      1/ 


>l 


Atlantic;  scahojinl,  few  people  lia<l  shown  giealer  eiilei'- 
priso  in  seeking  avennes  far  eonnnerce  tlian  they. 


JIOLTII    «>F   TUB   COLIMUIA    IIIVKK. 


This  was  especially  the  case  with  the  New-Knghuul 
colonies.  War  liad  ruined  their  eoninierce,  l)nt  with  the 
coming  of  i)eace  the  shrewd  X«'W-England  merchants 
were  un    the  h)okoMt  for   new  outlets,  since  nowhere 


1^8     A    VANKKK   SHIP    IHSroVKKS   COM'MIUA    HlVEK. 


cimld  ships  be  so  (•lieaply  built,  while  the  iM>pulatioii 
hugely  j^ot  their  living  either  on  (jr  from  the  sea.  Be- 
sides this,  they  had  a  brand-new  Hag  of  their  own,  of 
which  they  were  justly  proud,  and  whieh  they  wished 
to  see  afloat  on  the  most  distant  seas. 

The  diseoveries  made  on  the  north-west  coast  by  Hng- 
land,  though  kept  secret  till  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
were  '  ■  o  means  unknown  to  our  merehants  an<l  sail- 
ors, .lom  the  laudable  desire  to  profit  by  every 
avenue  the  ocean  might  throw  open  to  honest  enterprise 
and  skill,  was  inspired  and  increased  by  a  condition  of 
national  freedom. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  certain  merchants  of  Boston 
formed  (1787)  a  partnership  for  Ijeginning  a  trade  be- 
tween the  north-west  coast  and  China.  They  fitted  out 
the  ship  "Columbia,''  of  two  hundred  tons,  and  sloop 
"•  Washington,"  of  ninety  tons  burden,  with  tr.ading- 
goods,  which  the  nuisters  were  to  barter  for  furs  with 
the  Indians,  sell  the  furs  at  Canton,  and  with  the  pro- 
ceeds buy  teas  for  the  home-market.  Large  profits  were 
expected.  As  the  United  States  was  a  new  power  at 
sea,  and  her  Hag  little  known,  the  masters  were  provided 
with  passports,  to  certify  they  were  honest  trtiders 
sailing  under  an  honest  Hag. 

The  owners,  however,  looked  somewhat  farther  than  a 
mere  trading  voyage  would  suggest.  They  had  in  min<l 
the  establishment,  under  the  national  authority,  of  per- 
manent factories,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the 
Hudson's  J^ay  Company.  Looking  to  this  en<l,  their 
masters,  John  Kendrick  and  Robert  (tray,  were  in- 
structed to  buy  lands  of  the  natives,  to  build  storehouses 
or  forts,  or  make  such  other  improvements  on  these  lands 
as  would  insure  their  permanent  tenure  to  the  owners. 


A    VANKKK    SIMP    lUSroVKUS    rOI.r.M  I'.l  A    IMVKK.      l")!) 


Ill  SO  far  as  occupation  hy  any  wliitc  ix-oplc  was  con- 
cerned, the  territory  \\'iu*x  l)et\vecn  Cape  Mendocino 
and  tlie  Straitsof  Fucii  was  known  to  be  vacant,  tlioui^di, 
out  of  Enjifland,  Spain  was  tliou<j^lit  to  luive  the  best 
claim  to  it.  Kendrick  and  (iray  were  tlieretore  directed 
to  begin  operations  on  tins  unexplored  strip  of  coast, 
not  only  as  traders,  but  asexjjlorers  of  an  undiscovered 
country. 

Ja'ss  could  1.  )t  Well  be  said  of  those  voyages,  because 
of  the  importance  they  subsetpiently  assumed  in  the  dis- 
pute lietwcen  England  and 
tlie  United  States  about  their 
respective  boundaries,  but  we 
will  leave  that  (piestion  now 
to  take  its  proper  turn  in  the 
story,  and  go  back  to  the 
voyages  themselves. 

IJoth    vessels*    reached 
Xootka  in  the  early  autumn 
<»f  1788.      Having  made  her 
cargo,  tlie  "  Columbia  "  set       ^■""'  """""^  ^'^^  """  "°""°'=- 
sail  for  Canton,  sold  her  fui-s  for  teas,  with  which  she 
returned  to  Boston  in  August,  1790,  thus  lirst  carrying 
the  Hag  (juite  round  the  world. 

This  time  the  Hostonians  did  not  throw  the  tea  over- 
hoard  as  they  had  once  <lone,  when  it  came  seasoned 
with  an  odious  tax.  A  quite  different  recei)tion  was 
given  to  the  "Colundjia"  as  she  sailed  up  the  harbor 
with  the  stars  and  stripes  lluttering  at  her  mast-head, 
alter  an  absence  of  nearl}'  three  years.  As  she  i)asscd 
the  Castle,  the  "Columbia"  fired  a  national  salute,  which 
the  fortress  innnediately  returned.  The  loud-booming 
cannon  brought  the  inhabitants  in  crowds  to  the  wharves 


l»IO      A    VANKKK    Sllll'    IMSCONKUS    rol.lT.MiJrA    IIIVKI.'. 


to  SCO  wlint  sliij*  Wiis  icceivin^  such  Iuiiionil)lL'  wt'lcoiuo. 
As  tlu'  "  ('(>Inini>iu "  rounded  to,  in  (lio  inner  liiirl>or, 
the  |)(>o]i]('  slionltM],  tlie  cannon  jiciilrd,  as  if  tli(^  occasion 
were  one  worliiy  of  |»nl)iic coniiniinioiation  and  icjoicinLf. 
It  was,  in<lci'«I,  felt  to  he  (lie  ln-eakin«if  away  iVoni  old 
despotisms  which  a  C(doniaI  condition  had  so  h»nj»;  im- 
posed, whih;  the  track  round  the'  <j;h)he  was  not  yet  so 
mucli  tiaveUcd,  or  so  well  known,  as  to  make  the  "  (^o- 
lumhia's  "  voyage  seem  any  less  a  ^\rdt  achievement. 

It  ha^  [)cned  that  the  "Colundtia"  had  l(»uched  at 
Owyliee,  the  royal  residence  of  the  klw^  of  the  Sand- 
wicih  Islands.  Ca[>tain  CJiay  persuachMl  the  king  to  lei 
the  crown  prince  go  with  him  to  the  United  States. 
The  prince  was  royally  welcomecl  in  IJoston,  and  safely 
retinned  to  his  native  land,  so  hringing  ahout  a  friend- 
liness hetween  Americans  and  the  ishmdcrs,  of  much 
benefit  to  commerce  in  tlie  future. 

Although  the  owners  had  lost  money-  1»y  the  venture, 
they  were  public-s[)irited  men,  and  determined  on  mak- 
ing a  second  trial.  The  "rohunljia"'  was  therefitn; 
again  fitted  for  sea,  and  in  June,  ITl^l,  was  again  breast- 
ing the  waves  of  the  North  Pacific.  During  this  second 
voyage.  Captain  Gray  saw  tla^  mouth  of  a  river,  inti) 
which,  however,  he  did  not  sail,  IxM-anse  the  surf 
broke  with  violenc*;  (piite  across  it.  He,  however,  can- 
fully  noted  down  the  latitude  in  his  log;  but  whcii, 
shortly  after,  he  fell  in  with  Vancouver,  that  oiliccr 
doubted  what  Grav  told  him  about  this  river.  It  could 
not  be  tht're,  he  thought,  since  he  himself  had  caic- 
fully  searched  without  finding  it. 

After  i)arting  company  with  Vancouver,  Gray  sailed 
south,  with  the  intention  of  knowing  more  about  the 
river  in  question.     When  the  entrance  was  sighted,  tlic 


A    VANKKK   SUM'    I>lS<nVKKS   COLl'MltlA    IMVI:K. 


mi 


•' Coliiml)!;!  "  was  Ixddly  steered  for  it  witli  all  sails  set. 
Slie  safely  laii  in  between  the  l)ieakei's,  into  a  l)r<)a(l 
l)asin  wliieli  no  keel  Imt  liers  had  ever  plon^hed  before, 
and  Avitliout  unclioring  held  her  onward  eonrse  fourteen 
"o'*>s  u})  the  river,  surrouncU'd  by  a  swarm  of  canoes, 
a    ong  which  the  stately  shii)  moved  a  leviathan  indeed. 

When  the  andior  was  let  go.  Captain  (tray  found 
liimself  (piietly  floating  on  the  bosom  of  a  large  fresli- 
water  river,  to  which, 
upon  (luitting  it,  he 
ijave  the  name  of  his 
slii|),  —  the  Colum- 
l.ia.a 

As  a  result  of  these; 
\oyages,  the  direct 
trade  between  the 
North  Pacific  and 
Cliina  fell  almost  ex- 
clusively into  the 
hands  of  American 
traders.  British  mer- 
cliants  were  re- 
strained from  enga- 
yiii!^^    in     it    by    the 

opjiosition  of  their  East  India  Company.  Uussian  ves- 
sels were  not  admitted  into  Chinese  ports.  We  find 
the  iiritish  explorer,  Mackenzie,  speaking  with  nuich 
ill-liumor  about  this  state  of  things,  which,  nevertheless, 
only  goes  to  prove  the  energy  and  skill  of  American 
iiuiehants  and  ship-masters,  who,  from  the  first  voyages 
of  the  "Columbia,"  were  known  to  the  Indians  of  the 
north-west  coast  as  Bostons,  l>ecause  these  vessels  hailed 
from  that  port. 


AN  UUi:u()N   11I2L1.K. 


102      A    VANKKK   SIIII*    I>ISC(»VKI:S   (OH  MHIA    lilVKK. 


'  IJoTll  Vksmki."*.     'rh«-  "  \V.i>>liiii}; 
ton,''  Ix-itiK    ii    H<trt    (if    u-iiiicr    to    ihi- 
"Coluinliia,"  ••ij^nU'd   ulfjiit    N'aiitumvir 
Ixlitiicl  iiikI  ^iruilM  of   Fiica.     'ii   |iiin<ii 
aiicc    of     liiH    jiiMtriK-liuiiH,    licr    iiiiiptcr 
iNiUght  lari{c  triu:li4  of   laud  from  uatjvc 
( liiofit,  from  n  hoiii  Ik*  took  regular  (1.-v<1h. 
<'i>p|)cr  i-oiiiH,  and  inifial.i  ntruek  for  (Ik- 
|nii'|MjM',  wf ro  hImi  givt-n  to  the  iialiv<9<. 
Kc-ndrick  wiim  tlio  lint  to  coiki-t  naiHlal 
wrioil  itM  an  articlr  of  r«lniiM-n-4> 

■  TuEOwvKii*  LoM  Money.  "  All 
cotRXTtHil  in  that  ciiU-rpriiH-  have  Hunk 
fifty  |KT  <i-nt  of  tli<  ir  capital.  Tbix  ix  a 
lii-uxy  (iiitupiiointnH'Ut  to  tlivin,  iim  llify 
had  i-ulculutMl,  (fVfr>  uwtivr.io  make  an 
lnd<-|>i-iidcnt  fortune."  —  £«/(f>  to  (im 
trul  //.  h'lmj-. 


■>  TiiK  (;oLt:MniA  Ilivr.n.  Thf  <ii 
tnincf  \vaMHli,'htc(l  l.y  llttM-la  (Hpaniaril 
ITT-'i,  who  i'iillo<l  tli*t  norlhcru  proinoti 
tory  St.  lUH|n<.'.  'I'hiH  nunio  wom  tuMiu 
t'ivfii,  on  Spariinh  nia|if,  to  a  riv<T  m 
Ko<ine,  (lowing  out  into  IlitilaV  ini<  i. 
who  nayH,  "  Thi^HO  widlfM  of  the  wain 
rauM-d  me  to  tM'IJ<-vr>  that  tin-  pl:icf  ixih' 
niixilli  of  noMic  urciU  rivci."  lie  di  ; 
not,  howfvi-r,  alti-tnpl  to  i-nU-r.  <  'iiptam 
MiiiniH  ('(78X),  in  wnuliim;  for  ilu- 
Ilivcr  St.  U(M|i|f,  ran  iiitollic  inlet,  liiii. 
wrtiiiK  nntliinv  but  lireukerH  ahead,  left 
it  nndrr  the  (.-onviclion  Ihat  there  wax  ii<> 
Hnch  liver.  On  iIiIh  aet^oiint  he  <'all<<l 
the  northern  promontory  Cape  Im-^i|i 
|*ointnu'iit.  The  southern  point  u  ix 
liaiucd  l>y  Ciruy,  I'oint  AduuiM. 


THE   WEST  AT  THE   OPENING  OF  THE   CENTURY. 

"  America  inw  attains  her  majority.'* 

At  the  cl»i«e  of  i\\v  Rovolulioiiary  War,  siliiiost  iiotli 
iiij^  wa.s  kiionii  in  tlie  Aineiit^aii  cohiiiics  ahoiil  the  (((iin- 
try  lying  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Tiic  .souk  <•> 
(»f  the  Mis.souri '  were  unknown  even  to  I-'roniii  Irailt  rs. 
N(tho(ly  knew  that  a  ♦jrcat  sister  river  carried  the  simw- 
of  tlie  UtK'ky  Moiiiitaiiis  to  the  Pacific,  or  that  the  in  ud 
waters  (tf  tlies<»  two  luihU'  streams  lay  eoiletl  about  tli. 
feet  of  the  .siniio  h)i"ty  chain. 

Where,  then,  shoiikl  we  locate  the  Wfst?  Possildv 
central  along  the  enstern  hase  of  the  Alleghanies,  <  <  r- 
tainly  remote  at  l*ittsl>urg,  and  perha[)S  reaching  it> 
vanishing-i^oint  somewhere  about  the  Dark  and  Blooily 
Ground  of  Kentucky.  Among  a  host  of  ft>es  civiliza- 
tion stood  at  hay  here,  but  would  take  no  backwani 
step. 

France  oi»eiii*d   the  way  from   east  to  west.     Frniia 


■Jk^ 


TITE   WKST    AT   TIIK   OPKNING    OF   TIIK   rKNTlJIlY.      16'i 


'hi-  <ii 

iiiiani 

iroiiKiii 

•Iv'T  ^t 

k'H    illll'l. 
If    Will"  : 

||»-  (li: 
»';i|)tai:: 
(.)!•     Ilil- 

IH-Iul,  I.  I' 
le  WiiH  !'■• 
he   .-all-l 

|„.     In- 111 

loiiii    v^  1" 


ilinl    ICll^lillul     fnllirlit     ('(,!•    Ilio    |>rinilM-3'  nj"    llu'    (m»||1  jncilt, 

ami  I^ii;^laii<l  won.  DrlrattMl  Fiance  j^ave  nj)  tlu;  idea 
i.r  iiiaiiitaiiiiiii^  licrsi'll"  in  AiiH'iiea,  ami  secretly  ('(mI<m1  t(» 
Sjiain  wiial  the  war  had  lel'l  lier  west  of  tlie  iMississi|»j)i, 
as  a  l»aiikrui»t  iiiinlit  eoiivev  liis  property  out  ai'  tlie  unuth 
•  if  liis  niosl  pressiii;^  (;nMlitor. 

When  tlie  Colonies  r(.'Volte<l,  Franeo  saw  lior  way  to 
iiiaki!  them,  liki;  the  eat  in  the  lahle,  |iiill  her  (;liestnnts 
(•lit  ol'  tlie  lire.  It  is  no  part  of  a  kind's  trade  to  set  n[> 
a  repiihlie.  France?  played  her  own  pinie,*'*  played  it 
astutely  and  to  tlu;  end.  When  the  Colonics,  with  her 
liijp,  aehieve*!  their  iiidependenee,  she  showe(l  them, 
iiineh  to  tli(,'ir  wonder,  lor  they  were  i'resh  to  the  trieks 
of  diphmiaey,  that  in  polities  there  is  no  more  I'riend- 
■>lii|»  than  in  trade,  or  rather  that  p(jlities  is  u  game  in 
which  the  hest  player  wins. 

Ill  view  of  what  it  had  eost  her  to  give  n}»  Louisiana, 
ill  the  first  plaee,  not  only  in  loss  of  territory,  hut 
national  prestige,  it  is  j)erha])S  not  strange  that  when, 
as  our  ally,  Fran(*e  was  in  turn  a  vietor,  she  should  he 
r<tiiiid  trying  to  get  hack  Louisiana  lor  herself.  To  do 
this  sh<'  hatl  to  play  a  douhle  game,  with  the  helj)  <»f 
S|iain,  while  that  power  stood  ready  in  the  haekgruund 
t'l  lake  :'iiy  thing  that  eaiiui  in  her  way. 

These  two  gamesters  wisheil  to  restore  what  we  should 
C...1  the  old  hahinee  of  power,  thus  confining  the  Cnite-^ 
Stali's  nearly  in  the  limits  they  lia<l  occupied  as  colo- 
nics. T(»  her  honor,  l^ngland  would  not  listen  to  their 
scrl;ntiv(5  [>leadings.  Not  that  she  1ov<mI  her  revolted 
suhjcjcts  more-  luit  that  she  lov<'d  her  old  rivals  less. 
W  lien  John  .lay  gave  their  seheiiK-s  to  tin*  light  of  day, 
it  wu  seen  France  had  nt^ver  meant  we  slundd  be  a 
l«>wer  auiong  the  nutiuub — only  a  little  repuhlie.     In 


hJl       llli:    WKST    AT     INK   (U'KNIN(J    OK   TIIK   (KNTHUV. 

tin-  <'iiil  IOii;;l;iinrs  |»ii(lr  |in'v;iil«'«l  over  tlic  sliii^  ul 
woiiiidcil  si'll-lovc.  Iiisli'iMi  (>r  «li(t;itiiii;  lljd  terms  ol 
pciirc,  :»s  she  had  nicaiil  1«»  do,  rijuicc  had  (<>  sec  hcr- 
s(>ir  ^.hiit  out  iVoiii  Lniiisiana,  for  good  und  ulK  while 
S|(aiii,  tlic   M«'jthisto|>hih's  of    Amciicaii    alTaiis,  recov- 


A    MlhSINMI'IM    H.AT-noAl 


i'lvd  FI(»ii(ht  IVoiii  Eiii^hiiid,  so  cxcliidini;-  the  I'liii'''! 
HtaU's  i'roiii  access  to  the  (Jidf  ol'  Mexico  either  l)_v  lli'' 
seaboard  or  tlie  Mississij)pi  liiver.  Wiiat  was  now  Irli 
(»t'  French  Louisiana,  as  it  existe<l  j^revious  to  this  wiir, 
|»resente(l  tlje  anomaly  of  u  colony  of  French  |»(m.'|iI(' 
living  under  the  Spanish  Hag. 

in   eri'eil,  John   .lay  had    inged    upon    England   lluit 
hltjod   is  thi<l\cr  than   water.      Franklin    said,   "Let    ii> 


tin:  west  at  tiik  oi'Knincj  of  tiik  (I'Ati  kv.    ]{];') 


now  f(>r^iv<;  nml  lorf»;('l."  Ami  so  \\u-  Aiii;Io-Sjix(>ii 
spirit  j)r('ViiiI('<l. 

Witli  indcpciKh'Ucc^  ii('lii('V('<l,  (lie  I  'iiilccl  Stjifos;^iiiiM(l. 
;is  W(5  liiive  seen,  all  tlic  tciiiiory,  except  CjuukIji,  wliicli 
i'lii^laii<l  liad  eoiHjiieied  IVoiii  Fi'ancc.  At  a  single 
stride  her  IVoiitier  had  reaehefl  tli(^  Mississijtpi  on  the 
west  and  tiu;  (ireat  Lakes  on  the  north. 

IJefore  (he  war,  of  whieh  this  was  the  ;4Tand  so(|iiel, 
a  tliin  stream  of  Hnglish  inuni^raiits,  ehielly  from  \'ir- 
t^iiiia  and  North  Carolina,  nnder  the;  lead  of  Daniel 
!)(»one,  had  erossed  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina 
into  Kentueky.  This  movement  was  central  in  what 
is  connnoidy  known  as  the  IJlue  (irass  Iiegion,  of  which 
hcxinoton  may  l)e  consl(UM'ed  tiie  [)ivot. 

After  the  war,  a  second  and  larger  emi^nation,  chiefly 
lutiii  New  ICnj^land,  crosse<l  over  the  Alleghanies  lo  th(! 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Ohio,  whence  it  moved  down 
that  river  to  the  Mnskingum,  and  was  central  ahout 
Ahirietta.  liens  then,  we  have  two  sejjarate  streams  of 
piipulation,  l)elon<;in^'  to  the  sann^  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon 
rate,  though  originating  in  difl'en'nt  sections  oi'  th(5 
ytiinig  IJepuhlic,  each  taking  along  with  it  to  its  new 
linMie  in  the  West  the  customs  and  traditions  of  its  own 
section,  and  guided  by  instinct  or  destiny  ujMin  lines 
which,  ere  long,  were  to  divide  slav(!  from  free  States. 

l>yan  Act  of  ('ongress,  known  in  history  as  the  Ordi- 
nance of  17H7,  all  that  great  l)lo(;k  of  wilderness  coun- 
ti\,  into  which  this  last  emigration  was  setting,  heeana! 
<»nc  political  divisi«in  under  tla;  name  of  the  North-west 
Territory.^  'VUo.  Act  creating  this  territory  also  j>ro- 
vidcd  for  making  three  States  frctm  it,  and  most  w  isely 
toiliinle  that  slavery  should  ever  exist  within  its  hordrrs. 
lliii.>.  it  was  that  the  Ohio  came  to  he  not  only  a  i>hysi- 


1(J<}     TIIK    NVK.ST    AT     rilK   ()I'KMN<;    Ol     THK    CKNTUUV. 


cal,  hut  ii  jxililical,  <livi»liii<^-lino  Ix'twccn  llic  sccliMiis, 
wliicli,  now  that  tlic  law  of  tlic  land  lia<l  lixcd  a  limit 
shivJdT  should  not  ov(!i'st('|),  canic  to  he  designated  as 
North  and  Sontli,  not,  as  loinnnly,  fiom  j^cooiiiphieal 
sitnation  only,  hnt  l)CM.'ause  the  line  had  l)een  tlin> 
shaijily  di'awn  hetween  IVoe  and  slave  institutions. 
I'^ach  was  now  on  trial  hclore  tlio  world  ;  each  was  now 
to  show  what  it  could  do  lor  human  jnogress,  under  its 
own  institutions,  witli  its  own  means,  and  on  its  own 
clioson  j^round. 

It  would  se(Mn  as  if  this  splendid  ae<|uisili(»n  of  ours, 
this  Noith-west  Territory,  now  eonstitutin^-  the  great 
lieart  and  seat  of  power  in  th(5  Ameriean  Union,  might 
well  liav(!  filled  the  fullest  measure  of  patriotic  desiie 
for  territorial  expansion.  It  was  to  lie,  however,  but 
the  era<lle  of  si  newer  and  moic  ro])Ust  growth,  as  the 
original  States  had  hecju  for  that  just  heginning  at  the 
centre.  It  was  an  empire  in  itself,  comprising  all  those 
States  now  enclosed  between  the  MississijJiti,  the  Oliiit, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  (ireat  Lakes.  Yet  this  whole 
tract  held,  in  171>2,  no  more  than  ten  thousand  whites, 
settled  in  widely  scattered  spots,  among  sixty-live  thou- 
sand wild  Indians. 

These  wid(dy  seatter<'(|  spots  were  the  new  settlo- 
numts  at  Marietta  and  Fort  Ilaiiuaron  the  .Muskingiiiii. 
Cincinnati  and  Fort  Washington  on  the  Ohio,  (larks- 
ville  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  with  tlie  old  French  posts 
of  Viiieennes  on  the  Wahash,  Kaskaskia  on  the  river  <»t 
the  name,  and  F<ut  Chartn.'S  and  Cahokia  on  the  Mi>- 
sissij)j»i.  Over  this  vast  tract  a  seorti  of  military  p(i>is 
hehl  the  Indians  in  eluM-k,  and  foiined  the  kernels  el 
future  settlements.  Along  tin;  line  of  thi;  (neat  lial«>. 
and  contrary  to  treaty  stipulation.^  with  her,  Enghuul 


Till-:    WKST    AT     rilK   ol-KMNC    aV    TIIK    (  KNTl   |;V.     KIT 

-lill  lu'ld  the  key-points, —  Ni;inar;i.  Miiiiiii,  Dtlroii, 
MicliiliiiiJU^kiiuK;,  —  liiiis  rcsf  rictiii^-  the  nioveniciil  (»!' 
(•Ill-  citizens  IVoin  oust  t(»  west  mi  that  lin(S  iind  so  sliiit- 
iin<^'  tlu'in  out  tVoin  ilic  liKMativc  Iii(iiiiii  liudc  of  liic 
I  iir  Wrst. 

Let  US  now  look  ill  tli(»  section  south  ui'  the  Oliio. 


ON   TIIK    LOWKU   MIHSIHNII'I* 


Kentneky  was  made  a  State  in  17!*-,  and  TeniM'Ssec,' 
ill  ITIKI.  All  south  oi'  Tennessee  and  west  of  (ieoi'M^ia 
Was  lu lined  (17".>H)  into  the  iMississippi  Tenitoiy.  On 
tlie  east,  or  Ameiiean,  slioie  ol'  the  Mississippi,  s(!ttle- 
itient  was  mostly  eonline(1  to  the  places  mentioned  in 
*'  riie  rnundinL,^  of  Louisiana"'  as\illai^es.  None  had 
•  •nt^rown  this  condition.  Most  were  simply  planta- 
tions.    Population  had  incrtiastMl  (17H'))  to  thir(\-<'ij^ht 


1<)S     TIMO    WKST    AT   TIIK   OPKNINO    <>F   TIIK   CKNTl'KY. 


tlioiisaiid  persons,  (iliielly  hy  tlio  coniinpf-iii  of  refugees 
from  Nova  Seotia  uiul  St.  Domingo.  And  blacks  were 
already  numerous  enough  to  cause  uneasiness  anions 
till'  planters.  The  cultivation  of  cotton  and  sugar 
was  growing  to  importance  ;  but  the  Spaniards  at  New 
Orleans  wanted  all  the  water  to  their  own  mill,  as  the 
proverb  has  it,  which  meant  nearly  the  same  thing  as 
closing  the  river  to  American  trade  altogether. 

The  Falls  of  the  Ohio  had  already  begun  to  assume 
importance  both  as  a  depot  and  shipping-point.  They 
were  a  natural  stopping-place  for  all  boats  going  up  or 
down  the  river.  Hence  Louisville  had  grown  up  above 
the  falls  as  the  port  of  a  remarkably  thrifty  cluster  of 
inland  settlements  which  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
primitive  stations  of  the  first  settlers. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  the  Indians  made  a  deter- 
mined stand  against  the  coming  in  of  wiiite  settlers.  Ibii 
])ravely  as  they  fought,  their  power  was  so  broken  iii 
many  bloody  conllicts,  that  they  were,  at  length  (I7l>4), 
glad  to  sue  for  peace.  Shorn  of  power,  they  were  now 
confined  withi.i  narrower  limits.  Kngland  gave  up 
(1705)  the  lake  fortresses.  All  roads  to  the  West  beini; 
now  open,  they  were  speedily  thronged  by  an  army  nl 
settlers. 


»  TnK  SornrESi  ok  the  >ftssotTni. 
Alto»it  tin-  time  Nfackciizii'  cioKm'd  the 
inounUiiiM  (hcm-  c-hupter  "  IIiidHori'H  Itny 
to  tho  rarilic"),  nn  oinployet'  of  the 
Norlh-woKl  Conipniiy.  mimed  FIdler,  Ih 
reported  to  have  i^oiie  from  F'ort  Biiek- 
inirhum  to  the  liead  of  the  MinHoini 
Trnderi*  from  St.  F^ouJi*  UHceiided  the 
river  nt  thin  period,  Imt  how  far  is  un 
certuin. 

»  FnANCE  PI,ATET>  ItEIt  OWN  OaME 
It  Ih  iiotoriotiN  lliat  llie  French  iiiltdHter, 


Ver^nneo,  intrimied  with  the  llriii^h 
miiiiHter,  ShellMiriie,  oiitxide  the  kiioui 
cdf<u  of  tlie  I'liited  StateH  ('oniiiilMMiiiii 
eiH.    See"  Life  of  Lord  Slulldiriie." 

'   NollTIlWEHT     TKKUITOUY         \\li» 

ce«led  to  the(}eneriil  (ioveriiiiieiil  liy  iln 
S'atei*  to  proviile  a  ineaiir*  for  payinu  "ti 
the  ilebt  iiiciirreci  during  the  war.  In 
ihirly  yearn  It  liad  half  a  inillioii  people. 
Conneeticut  rcHvrved  a  Htrip  aluiif^  Lake 
l'>ie  tohermMf. 


Giioup  If. 


lilRTH  OF  THK  AMERICAN  IDEA. 

AMERICA    FOR    AMERICANS. 


America  is  therefyre  the  land  ot  the 


future."  ~\\¥Mv,h. 


.1 


T. 


AMERICA    FOR    AMERICANS. 


ACQUISITION  OF  LOUISIANA. 

"  /  have  given  England  a  rival  that  will  humble  her  pride- "  —  Xnpohnn. 

AlfE  hiivo  HOW  done  with  tli.it  ]>art  of  Fivinli  I^ouisi- 
**  ana  lyiiijif  east  of  tlie  Mississippi.  It  is  now  Mos- 
soniin^  all  over  with  incipient  civilization  in  the  form 
of  log  cahins,  tnu ling-posts,  cross-roads,  hamlets,  and 
s(.*hoolhouseH. 

From  1793  to  1700  otir  old  ally  France,  now  hecome 
a  repnhlie,  was  trying  first  to  cajole,  then  to  hnlly  ns 
into  taking  up  her  (piarrel  with  Kngland.  She  even 
went  to  the  length  of  demanding  trihnte-money  from 
us  as  the  [)riee  of  j)eace,  and,  upon  a  refusal,  of  ordering 
our  minister  out  of  her  territory.  Our  remonstrances 
were  treated  with  dis<lain,  our  ships  capturtMl,  and  our 
llag  fired  upon  at  sea,  without  even  the  formality  »>f  a 
fleclaration  of  war.  This  conduct  drove  us  int«»  making 
reprisal.  After  one  or  two  of  her  frigates  had  been 
l>eaten  in  tight  by  ours,  France  grew  more  pacilic  toward 
us,  and  again  cultivate<l  friendly  relations  with  a  [)Ower 
siu^  had  seemed  to  des[»ise,  until  the  reply  "  Millions  for 
defence,  hut  not  a  cent  for  trihute,"'  warned  her  that 
America  would  never  yiehl  a  i»rinciple  to  threats. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Spain.     In  170.")  this  power  had 

171 


172 


A<'<^riSITION    OK    LoriSIANA. 


niado  a  troaty  which  socurod  to  \in  tho  ri}jfht  «»(*  storing ^ 
Anicrican  goods  at  New  Orlcjms,  pfmliiig  shi|niii'nt 
al)i(»a(l,  thus  making  thr  livtM'  so  far  IVcc  i'or  our  coni- 
nicrc'c. 

In  1800  Najioloon  iiad  ('(inn'  tothr  ht'adofthc  French 
nation.  Anil)ition  to  restore  the  an«Ment  sovereignty  of 
Franco  over  Louisiana  led  liiin  to  proimse  to  Spain  the 
exchange  of 'ruscany  for  it.  Spain  accepted  the  offer, 
and  in  1800-lHOl  treaties  of  cession  were  sigin-d,  hut 
not  ina(h'  puhlic,  hecause  war  with  Fngland  was  proWa- 
l»hs  and  Xai>oh»o:i  wisliod  to  make  his  tith»  good  on  tlie 
s[)ot  witli  the  hayonets  of  Ids  sohliers,  liefore  Kngian<l 
couhl  know  of  it.  Tiierefore  for  tiie  present  Spain  ke[>t 
possession  of  Louisiana  in  trust  for  France. 

Just  here  some  grave  internatiiuial  questions  arose. 
Our  rapid  growtli  in  the  West  gave  S^min  uneasiness. 
It  certaiidy  was  putting  her  possessions  in  peril.  In 
consequence  she  showed  such  an  unfriendly  spirit  t«»ward 
us  as  to  keep  the  West  in  a  state  of  chroni*'  irritation.-' 
It  even  disposed  the  West  to  listen  to  plans  tor  separat- 
ing hi'r  from  the  East,  which  Spain  would  gladly  have 
aided  in,  and  so  was  fast  breaking  up  the  feeling  of 
national  unity  so  essential  to  keep  alive  in  the  Ke[>ul)li« . 

Suddenly,  without  previous  notice,  the  Spanish  in- 
tendant  at  Xew  Orleans  revoke*!  the  right  (d'  deposit. 
The  act  shut  the  only  door  by  which  the  jK'ople  ol 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Illinois  could  get  to  the  sen.  It 
exasperatecl  them  to  such  a  point  that  they  begged  the 
(leneral  (iovernment  to  <lrive  the  Spaniards  out  of 
the  Mississippi  for  good  and  all. 

In  Thomas  Jefferson  tlii^  people  of  the  West  foun«l  a 
more  sagacious  advo<'ate.  The  cession  could  not  long 
remain    a   secret.     It  was   soon  known    in  the  United 


An^nsiTioN  or  i.oi  isiana. 


nn 


nrosc. 
iiness. 
.  In 
iwanl 
lion.'' 
)ii  rat- 
lin vo 

ll)lir. 

Ii  iii- 

losit . 
li-  (.1 
It 
II  lli(> 
It   (iC 

iii*i  ii 


Stiitrs;  lint  instead  of  calniiii^  tlu>  |K'n|)|(>,  tlio  cluin^t) 
of  inasti'is  n-vivcd  tlioir  tears,  sinc(!  it  was  I'elt  that 
Napoleon,  wliose  exploits  lilled  l\iir(»|>(t  with  alarnu 
would  prove  more  dillicnlt  to  deal  with  than  S[iain, 
whom   iiuliodv    feared. 

Sneli  was  the  sitnation  presented  to  Mr.  JelVersoii. 
Fortiimitely  for  its  solntion,  naticmal  pridt;  and  natiomil 
policy  do  not  always  ^o  hand  in  hand. 

Onr  minister,  l^ivingston,*  a  very  ahle  man,  was  ttdd 
lo  \m\i\f  the  Louisiana  question  to  Napoleon's  atten- 
tion, and  t<»  do  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  no  douht  in 
iiis  mind  that  the  L'nited  States  eould  not  remain  an 
idle  looker-on  while  New  Orleans  was  heing  bought  and 
sold.  She  had  too  mneh  at  stake.  NapokMUi's  army 
was  getting  ready  to  sail  for  Louisiana.  There  was  no 
time  to  lose. 

Mr.  Livingston  did  not  stoj)  with  the  suggestion  to  sell 
Xew  Orleans  to  us.  He  went  further,  and  i>roi>osed  the 
cession  of  all  Lcuiisiana  ahove  the  Arkansas  ami  east  of 
th(»  Mississippi,  lie  did  it  with  true  repuhliean  frank- 
ness, never  hesitating  to  press  home  upon  Nai)oleoii"s 
inlvisers  the  dilemma  which  the  possession  of  Louisiana 
must  oiler  to  their  choice.  ''What  will  you  do  with 
Louisiana?  Would  you  liave  Knglaiid  wrest  it  t'nun 
vuu?  Her  navies  iiave  driven  yours  from  the  seas. 
Do  you  wish  to  force  the  United  States  iiit«>  joining 
with  Englan<l,  against  you?  England  would  gladly 
uive  us  what  we  ask,  as  tiie  price  of  our  help/' 

rranee  was  (»n  the  eve  of  war  with  Knglaud.  But 
I'T  this  we  should  hardly  have  had  Louisiana  so  easily. 
Tiiere  was  no  assurance  felt  that  the  licet  Najioleoii 
•Irstined  for  Louisiana  would  ever  rej.eh  the  Halize. 
N;i[»oleon  wanted  money.     It   was  true,  national  pride 


^ 

v-"^ 


^/x 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


C^'/ 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


■-lli£ 

|5  0  ^^ 


IM 

12.0 

1.8 


1-4    11.6 


V] 


(^ 


/i 


7 


'C^l 


''#w^ 


7 


/^ 


^ 


174 


ACQUISITION    OF    LOUISIANA. 


might  V)t'  liiiit  hy  the  sat*rifi(H',  but  it  was  most  impor- 
tcint,  at  tills  crisis,  not  to  make  an  enemy  of  the  United 
States;  and  Napoleon  foresaw  that  no  foreign  power 
could  long  hold  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  have 
l)eace  with  those  States.  That  conviction  was  decisive 
in  its  effects.  He  declared  for  the  sale  of  Louisiana, 
outright,  in  these  words :  "  I  will  not  keep  a  possession 
which  would  not  be  safe  in  our  hands,  which  would 
embroil  our  peoi)le  with  the  Americans,  or  produce  a 
coldness  between  us.  I  will  make  use  of  it,  on  the 
contrary,  to  attach  them  to  me,  and  embroil  them  with 
the  English,  and  raise  up  against  the  latter,  enemies 
who  will  some  day  avenge  us." 

Napoleon  would  not  even  wait  for  Mr.  Monroe  to 
arrive,  after  making  up  liis  mind,  but  sent  at  once  for 
^Ir.  Livingston,  and  opened  the  matter  with  him  on 
the  spot.  So  little  had  our  ablest  statesmen,  Mr. 
Livingston  excei>ted,  touched  the  root  of  the  matter, 
that,  when  Mr.  Monroe  did  come,  with  powers  from 
Congress  to  treat  for  the  cession  of  New  Orleans  and 
the  Floridas  (»nly,  Napoleon  surprised  him  with  this 
master-stroke  of  policy  which  not  even  ]\Ir.  Jefferson 
had  foreseen.  And  thus  a  treaty  ^  for  the  whole  of 
Louisiana  was  concluded  on  our  part  without  adequate 
powers. 

The  price  agreed  upon  was  eighty  million  francs,  the 
equivalent  of  twenty  million  dollars.  Of  this  sum 
sixty  were  to  be  iiaid  in  money.  The  remaining  twenty 
were  to  be  retained  by  the  L'nited  States  as  indemnity 
for  damage  done  to  our  commerce  under  the  orders  of 
the  Director}'.  In  this  way  the  nation  became  the 
trustee  for  what  is  known  as  the  French  Spoliation 
Fund.      The  principle  was  now   laid  down,   that   free 


ACQUISITION    OF    LOUISIANA. 


175 


sliips  iiiakp  free  goods.  Wlien  tliey  liad  sio'iit'd  tin* 
treaty,  the  coinmissioners  arose  and  shook  eacli  otlier's 
hands.  "We  liave  lived  long."  said  Livingston,  "but 
this  is  the  noblest  work  of  our  lives."  Mr.  Jefferson's 
efforts  to  bring  about  the  geographieal  and  i)olitieal 
unity  of  the  United  States  were  thus  far  eonipletely 
successful. 


'  "Millions Fon Defence."  Thia 
tele  1 'rated  sentiment,  uttered  1)y  our  min- 
ister, Charles  Cotesworth  Piuckuey,  was 
echoed  throughout  the  Union. 

-  TuE  Right  of  Deposit  allowed 
the  landing  and  titoring  of  merchandi.-^e, 
iroing  to  foreign  markets,  until  euch  time 
a>  it  could  be  put  on  board  ship.  With- 
out it,  the  tobacco,  corn.  Hour  and  lumber 
of  the  West  would  have  been  excluded 
from  the  markets  of  the  world. 

3  State  of  Chronic-  Irritation. 
Increased  by  Spain's  dilatory  action  in 
Mttling  our  southern  boundary,  her  re- 
fusal to  give  up  Natchez,  etc.,  as  pro- 
\ided  for  uuder  the  treaty  of  1795.    In 


view  of  this  attitude,  the  United  States 
concentrated  troojxs  on  the  Mississippi 
with  the  intention  of  seizing  New 
Orleans.  England  stood  ready  to  do  the 
same  thing  in  case  of  a  rupture  with 
Spain. 

♦  Livingston,  Robert  R.,  one  of 
the  signers  of  the  "Declaration,"  de- 
serves the  name  of  the  author  of  the 
Louisiana  jjurchase. 

•''  Treaty  Signed  April  30,  1S03; 
sent  to  the  United  States  May  13;  ratified 
Oct.  til,  seven  senators  voting  against  it 
on  the  ground  that  the  <|Uestion  should 
be  first  submitted  to  the  whole  people. 


A  GLANCE   AT  OUR   PURCHASE. 

Hitherto  Louisiana  has  played  the  part  of  a  foot- 
ball in  European  politics.  The  curtain  is  now  to  rise 
upon  a  far  different  scene. 

For  fifteen  millions  the  United  States  obtained  more 
territory  than  the  original  thirteen  had  started  out 
with. 

As  we  have  shown  in  a  previous  oliapter,  our  people 
had  more  than  enough  land  already,  and  few  men  were 
wise  enougli,  in  that  day,  to  forecast  our  national  great- 
ness in  the  future ;  but  at  last  the  Mississippi  in  all 
its  course  was  ours,  and  the  one  question    of   highest 


170 


A    (JTiANCE    AT    Olll    TUHCHASE. 


iiioini'iil  to  llu'  West  was  settk'd  in  (Uir  iavor, — scltlcMl 
(lelinitely  and  forever. 

With  wliat  actual  materials  for  progross,  in  natioii- 
biiildinor,  did  the  United  States  set  up  her  rule   over 


A  LOUISIANA   8UGAB  PLANTATION. 


Louisiana?  The  answer  will  show  what  the  French  and 
Spaniards  had  done  in  two  centuries  or  more  of  inter- 
mittent effort. 

Two  rather  large  towns,  twelve  hundred  miles  apart, 
held  about  one-third  its  whole  population,  and  controlled 


A    GLANCE    AT   OUR    rUItCriASE. 


177 


lC'<  I 


all  its  tiiuU'.  Tlic  first,  N(!\v  Oilcans,  was  tlio  commer- 
cial  ])(>it  lor  tlu'  Mlssissi[)j)i  X'alle}'  and  its  [n-oduets. 
'J'he  second,  St.  Louis,  was  a  I'lir-trading  post  with  its 
chief  outlet  in  Canada.  One  had  a  mixed  piopuiation 
of  from  eight  thousand  to  ten  thousand,  Frenelnnen, 
Spaniards,  Americans  and  blacks;  the  other  did  not 
have  more  than  twelve  hundred  people,  all  told,  many 
of  whom    were   boatmen,  who    passed    nuich   of  their 


m^ 


FRENCH    SETTLEMENTS  :   CiERM   OF  1<T.   LOUIS. 


.S^K-'- 


'h  and 
inter- 
apart, 
rolled 


lives  afloat  on  the  rivers  or  domesticated  among  roving 
tribes.  In  both,  the  French  were  most  numerous,  but 
taking  all  Louisiana  together,  there  were  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  as  many  slaves  as  white  people,  although,  as 
compared  with  the  Indians  then  occupying  this  vast 
territory,  the  whites  were  (ndy  a  handful. 

At  the  date  of  cession  to  the  United  States,  New 
Orleans  had  perhaps  fourteen  hundi'^d  houses,  mostly 
linilt  of  wood  and  uniformly  homely.  Two  hours  would 
liave  laid  the  whole  of  it  in  ashes.     In  the  best  part. 


178 


A   GLANCE   AT   OUR    PUKCHASi:. 


ii  few  houses  wore  built  ol"  biiek,  some  one,  some  twd 
stories  high,  with  the  open  galleries  running  ronnd  the 
outside,  one  is  accustomed  to  see  in  the  tropics ;  yet 
though  it  had  heen  burned  over  so  recently  as  1794. 
New  Orleans  was  little  bettered  in  the  rebuildino-,  show- 
ing,  as  before,  a  collection  of  hurriedly  built  biivracks 
and  dwellings,  among  which  the  Hotel  de  Ville  an<l 
l^irochial  Church,  alone,  gave  a  certain  metropolitan 
character  to  this  city  of  wood  and  shingles. 

Though  spacious,  the  streets  were  unpaved,  dii'ty,  and 
ill-ke])t.  No  drainage  could  be  had,  and  every  thing 
was  thrown  into  the  street.  Summer  heats  quickly 
developed  epidemic  fevers.  It  followed  that  New 
Orleans  had  the  name  of  being  the  most  unhealthy  city 
in  the  United  States. 

Besides  the  church  and  Hotel  de  Ville,  or  City  Hall, 
there  were  a  military  hosjiital,  charity  hos})ital,  and 
nunnery,  —  all  equally  inconspicuous  in  point  of  archi- 
tectural design.  There  was  also  a  theatre  in  wliieli 
a  conq)any,  whom  the  revolt  had  driven  from  St. 
Domingo,  acted  plays  for  the  gratification  of  the  Creole 
population. 

Going  north,  Natchitoches  on  Red  River,  and  Arkan- 
sas Post  on  the  Arkansas,  may  be  considered  outposts 
of  the  country  immediately  dependent  upon  New  Or- 
leans. Each  tai)ped  the  Indian  trade  of  its  river.  The 
first  was  a  thriving,  the  second  a  poor  village.  We 
next  come  upon  a  group  of  settlements,  constitutiie^' 
what  was  known,  under  French  and  Spanish  rule,  as 
Upper  Louisiana,  with  St.  Louis  for  its  emporium. 
Chief  among  these  were  New  ^Madrid,!  Cape  Girardeau, 
St.  Genevieve,  Carondelet,  and  St.  Charles.  The  popu- 
lation, all    told,  counting   from    the    Arkansas   to   the 


A   GLANCE   AT   OUR   PTJRCHARE. 


179 


Hall, 

1,  autl 

arc'lii- 

whifli 

St. 

Creole 

Vrkan- 
itposts 

'W  Oi- 

Tlie 
Wo 
tutiuiJ,' 
Lile,  as 
orinm. 


Missouri,  and  including  St.  Louis,  numbored  about  six 
tliousand,  ol'  whom  at  least  a  thousand  wore  slaves, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  half-ljreed  French-Indian  trappers 
besides. 

St.  Louis  had  arisen  out  of  the  transfer  of  the  east 
hank  of  the  Mississippi  to  Great  Britain.  Rather  than 
live  as  aliens,  under  Englisb  laws,  many  French  settlers 


OLD  CONVENT,   NEW   OilLEANS. 

went  witb  Pierre  Laclede,^  across  the  Mississippi,  to  a 
phice  already  nicknamed  by  them  Pain  Court,  where, 
in  February,  1764,  they  founded  a  new  town  with  the 
name  of  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  Louis  XV. 

These  people  were  mostly  French  Canadians,  —  either 
traders,  trappers,  or  voyageurs,  who  still  kept  up  their 
trading  connection  with  Canada, — though  a  sprinkling 
til"  Spaniards  and  Americans  became  incorporated  with 
them,  so  making  St.  Louis  a  city  of  many  tongues  like 


180 


A   GLANCE    AT    OUR    PUIICIJASE. 


A    GLANCE    AT    OUR    ITKCIIASK. 


181 


New  Orleans.  In  hotli,  i\u  Ainoiicaii  could  iaiu\v  him- 
self in  a  foi'ei'^n  countiy,  among  forcip^nois.  lint  while 
New  Orleans  had  o-rown  nj)  under  the  worst  conditions, 
ill  respect  of  situation  an<l  climate,  St.  I.ouis  befjjan  her 
career  under  the  best  of  both.  At  New  Orleans  peo})le 
lived,  as  it  were,  on  a   floatinf]^  island  which  the  Missis- 


■N_*is^ 


-Jl 


-{nceuiit'-'i 


(  IHH  TKAl    S    ruM>,   .sr.    i.Ol  IS. 


sijipi  might  delui;(^  with  her  floods.  St.  Louis  was  laid 
i»ut  on  a  spacious  terrace,  elevated  above  the  united 
Hoods  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississipju.  Besides  its  high 
aiiil  healthy  situation,  the  spot  chosen  by  the  founders 
•  »t'  St.  Louis  for  their  future  city  was  the  best  one 
to  he  found  next  .itli  of  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
Kivei'.  That  the  whole  Lidian  trade  of  the  upper  eoun- 
Uy  was  destined  to  be  poured  into  the  lap  of  the  infant 


182 


A  GLANCE   AT   OUR   PUIiCUASE. 


metropolis,  was  early  foreseen  and  soon  realized  by  its 
sagacious  founders. 

Of  St.  Louis  in  its  infancy  we  lack  ade(|uato  descrip- 
tion. It  was  a  jjalisaded  village  of  tlie  pattern  so  often 
described  in  these  pages.  During  the  Ivcvolutionary 
War  (1780)  it  withstood  the  assault  of  a  marauding 
l)arty  sent  against  it  from  the  Lakes,  l)ut  lost  some  of  its 
inhabitants  whom  the  enemy  carried  off  into  captivity. 
At  this  time  it 
had  one  hun- 
dred and  twen- 
ty houses  with 
eight  hundred 


ROCK  TOWEUS   NEAU   DlllUlili;. 


inhabitants,  who  owned  and  bred  many  cattle.  While 
a  few  houses  were  of  stone,  the  major  part  were  mean. 
and  the  streets  narrow  and  dirty.  With  the  cession 
it  began  to  grow  apace. 

When  Father  Charlevoix,  the  Jesuit  historian  of 
New  France,  descended  the  Mississii)pi  in  1721,  he 
found  some  miners  at  work  on  the  iNIeramec,  under 
authority  of  Law's  Company.  Wliile  searching  for 
silver  the  miners  struck  galena  ore  whicli  from  that 
time  began  to  be  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  province, 


A    r.LANCE    AT   ()U|{    PUHCHASE. 


183 


llio  lead  i)ro(liic't  mostly  going  down  the  river  to  New 
Orli'iuis. 

Ill  that  part  of  the  J-.oiiisiana  piireliasc  eomijriscd 
witliiii  tiie  States  of  Iowa  and  iSIiiiiiesota,  the  Nortii-west 
('()nij)any^  of  Montreal  eontinued  to  ni(»no]»olize  the 
Indian  trade  till  after  the  eession.  It  had  posts  on 
Sandy  Lake  and  Leech  Lake.  Prairie  dn  Ciiien  had 
«;rown  to  a  handet.  .Inlien  Dnhnipie,  a  French  trader, 
who  had  first  gone  tliere  from  Canada,  ol)tained  permis- 
sion to  work  the  lead-mines  where  the  city  of  I)uhu(]ue 
now  stands,  and  had  settled  there. 


'  New  Madrid.  Shortly  afti-i-  ilic 
Ilcvoliitioiiary  War,  Baron  Stcuhcii  ami 
other  ofllcers  of  rank  obtained  from  the 
Spaiiinh  authorities  of  Louisiana  a  ijrant 
(if  laiiil  on  which  they  proposed  founding 
ii  iiiiiitary  colony.  Under  this  authority 
New  Madrid  was  laid  out  on  a  great 
ficale  in  W.M.  by  Colonel  George  Morgan 
of  New  Jersey.  The  Spanish  go%ernor 
Miro,  however,  disconcerted  these  plans 
by  building  a  fort  there.  The  place  was 
nearly  destroyed  by  the  earthquakes  of 
1811-1:2,  Cape  Girardeau  and  St. 
(iKNEViEVE  were  ports  of  shipment  for 
the  lead-mines  of  the  interior.  'I"he  lat- 
ter is  called  the  oldest  settlement  In 
Missouri  (ITuJ).    St.  Charles,  twenty 


nnlesuptho  MissouH,  had  been  settled 
by  Blanchetle,  ITtJO. 

2  Pierre  Laclede  came  np  from 
Lower  Louisiana  in  176.3  to  start  a  fur- 
trade  west  of  the  Mississippi,  going  first 
to  St.  Genevieve,  subsequently  to  Fort 
Chartres.  'I'he  two  brothers  Anguste  and 
I'lerre  Chouteau  wore  with  him.  He 
held  a  trading  license  from  the  governor 
of  Louisiana.  — Xicol/ct-E'ihcdrds. 

•'  XoRTii-WKST  Company,  the  great 
rival  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company; 
formed  by  the  union  (1784)  of  rival 
interests;  Frobisher  and  McTavish, 
managers;  did  business  by  the  way  of 
the  Grand  Torlage,  Fond  du  Lac,  Leech 
J-ake,  etc. 


ri 


THE    PATHFINDERS. 


LEWIS  AND  CLARKE  ASCEND  THE  MISSOURI. 

"  To  lose  themselves  in  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon," 

MW.  JEFFERSON  had  never  forgotten  liis  talk  witli 
^^  Ledyard  at  Paris.  It  was  the  kej'-note  t)f  fiitnic 
pi'ojeets.  Even  before  Louisiana  Avas  ours,  he  began  to 
take  steps  for  having  it  explored,  [)artly  with  the  view 
of  ascertaining  its  real  value,  Init  ehietly  tt)  deterniiui' 
whether  the  Missouri  and  C'ohnnbia  Rivers  would  alford 
a  i)ractieable  overland  route  for  commerce  with  the 
Pacific.  Should  they  do  so,  the  discovery  of  the  century 
would  be  made.  It  was  the  very  first  step  taken  to 
open  a  road  across  the  continent  under  national  aus- 
pices, and,  as  such,  has  historic  importance,  going  far 
beyond  the  aindi^ss  wanderings  of  a  few  migratory  fur- 
traders,  wlio,  tlius  far,  were  the  sole  geographers  of  this 
interesting  region. 

Except  that  they  took  their  rise  somewhere  in  the 
great  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  next  to  nothing  was  known 
about  the  higher  sources  of  the  Missouri.  Somethiug, 
indeed,  was  learned  from  the  French  traders  who  had 
been  making  canoe  voyages  up  tlie  jMissouri  for  many 
years.     Tliese  adventurers  liad  ])ushed  their  way  iut(» 

184 


LEWIS    AND   CLARKE    ASCEND   THE    MISSorill.      iHf) 


the  Osage,  the  Kansas,  and  the  Platte.  To  them  we 
owe  the  names  these  streams  l)ear  to-chiy,  wliich  are 
derived,  the  IMatte  ^  ah)n(;  exeepted,  from  tlie  trihes  in- 
liiil)iting  their  hanks.  For  tlie  same  reason  the  great 
Missonri'-^  itself  was  given  this  name  hy  the  French 
explorers  heeanse  they  were  ignorant  of  its  existing 
Indian  name. 

From  their  known  activity  and  restlessness  of  char- 
acter, we  shonld  expect  to  lind  evidences  of  the  pres- 
ence of  Frenchmen  everywhere  in  a  re- 
gion they  had  possessed  for  centuries. 
We  (h)  find  that  the  most  adventur- 
ous had  ascended  not  only  as  high 
as  the  YeUowstone,^  hut  had 
even  found  their  way  into  the 
J  Hack  Hills,  so  estahlishing 
an  important  landmark  for 
after-comers.  Indeed,  hoth 
the  Yellowstone  and  the 
Hlack  Hills  owe  their  names 
to  these  pioneers. 

But  the  knowledge  thus 
gained  was,  at  hest,  little  hetter  than  what  would  l)e 
disclosed  hy  the  mirage  of  the  prairies  themselves.  It 
was  vague,  mostly  inaccurate,  and  often  quite  upside 
down. 

Therefore,  while  an  occasional  trapper  or  trader 
might  be  met  with  on  the  jNIissouri,  no  habitation  of 
civilized  man  existed  in  all  its  magnificent  valley,  if  we 
except  the  French  settlements  begun  near  its  mouth. 
This  state  of  things  is  all  the  more  striking  because  it 
comes  within  the  memory  of  living  men. 

Beyond  their  regular  villages,  which  could  be  moved 


MOUNTAIN   GOAT,   OH   BIOIIOIIN. 


186      LEWIS    AND   CLARKE    ASCEND    THE    MISSOTHU. 


at  a  few  hours'  warning,  the  Indians  of  this  valley  had 
no  fixed  habitations,  but  roamed  the  wide,  treeless 
prairies  in  savage  freedom,  like  wandering  Arabs  of  the 
desert,  carrying  their  skin-tents  on  the  l)acks  of  their 
shaggy  little  ponies  about  with  thorn  from  camp  to 
camp. 

These  rovers  of  the  prairies  had  the  same  barbaric; 
picturesqueness,  the  same  wild  and  free  manners,  the 
same  thieving  propensities,  as  tlie  Arab.  Like  him, 
the  Indian  of  the  i)lains  set  the  greatest  value  on  his 

liorse,     which, 


■^"i-.[^ 


INDIANS    MOVIN(i    (AMI' 


though  subdued 
to  his  rider's 
will,  was  vet  as 
untamed  as  he. 
Once  a  vear 
the  whole  vil- 
lage struck  its 
tents,  and  start- 
ed off  on  its  an- 
nual buffalo- 
hunt.  On  the  eve  of  departure,  a  solemn  dance  was 
held  and  offerings  made  to  the  god  of  the  chase,  with- 
out whose  help  they  believed  the  hunt  would  be  in 
vain.  Their  hunting  camps  were  pitched  at  some  favor- 
ite spot,  where  grass  grew  and  water  could  be  had. 
Here  they  lived  in  savage  luxury  on  tho  buffalo-meat 
which  the  hunters  brought  in  from  +he  chase.  Wlicii 
enough  meat  had  been  obtained  for  their  winter's  sup- 
ply, they  rode  back  to  their  villages,  and  with  singing 
and  dancing  celebrated  the  success  of  the  hunt.  Tlius 
they  hunted,  ate,  slept,  and  waged  continual  war  with 
each  other.     This  was  all  their  life. 


LEWIS    AND   CLARKE    ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI.      187 


Of  the  Columbia'*  nothing  certnin  was  known.  More 
was  known,  even  in  America,  about  the  Nile.  It  was 
tliought,  however,  that  its  highest  streams  would  be 
found  interlocked  with  those  of  the  Missouri,  about  the 
feet  of  the  same  great  mountain  chain.  Should  this 
prove  true,  a  practicable  passage  from  one  to  the  other 
through  these  mountains  might  be  discovered  ;  \-et  while 
nothing  actual  v/as  known  about  them  the  difficulties 
were  felt  to  be  so  uncommon,  that  none  but  men  of 
tried  courage  would  be  found  ei^ual  to  them.  Clearly 
it  was  to  be  no  holiday  journey.  Just  Avliat  obstacles 
lay  in  the  explorer's  way,  what  means  of  living  the 
country  would  afford,  what  sort  of  people  would  be 
met  with,  were  questions  no  one  had  so  far  attem])ted 
to  solve. 

Mr.  Jefferson  set  about  solving  them.  He  looked 
about  him  for  the  man  to  do  the  work.  His  first  choice 
fell  upon  his  own  secretary,  Captain  Meriwether  Lewis,  ^ 
"of  courage  undaunted,"  at  whose  request  Caj)tain 
"^Villiam  Clarke  ^  was  invited  to  make  one  of  the  party. 
Clarke  accepted  the  offer  with  great  glee.  Both  were 
young  men,  both  had  seen  service  on  the  frontiers,  both 
were  Virginians,  and  both  gave  heart  and  soul  to  the 
enterprise  in  hand. 

Though  its  objects  were  less  scientific  than  political, 
tlie  young  explorers  were  commanded  to  carefully  note 
down  every  thing  of  interest  about  the  countries  and 
nations  they  were  going  to  pass  through  —  wliat  were 
the  natural  products  of  the  one,  or  the  numbers,  dis- 
position and  manners  of  the  other. 

It  was  to  be  a  long  voyage  to  begin  with  —  two 
thousand  miles  at  the  least.  The  best  the  Government 
could  do  was  to  provide  a  keel-boat,  fifty-five  feet  l<uig. 


188      LEWIS    AND   CLARKE    ASCEND   THE   MISROURI. 


drawing  three  feet,  tarrying  one  large  square  sail  and 
twenty-two  oars.  A  ludf  deck  at  bow  and  stern 
formed  forecastle  and  cabin,  the  middle  being  left  open 
for  the  rowers.  This  vessel,  we  see,  was  but  a  nKKlifica- 
tion  of  the  galley  of  ancient  times,  and  quite  like  those 
used  by  the  Spaniards  in  exploring  our  coasts  two 
centuries  before. 

Thus  equipped  the  party  started  down  the  Ohio  on 
their  long  journey  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Spaniards  had  not 
yet  given  up  St.  Louis  to 
us  wdien  the  expedition 
reached  there,  in  the 
autumn  of  1803.  It  there- 
fore went  into  winter  quar- 
ters on  the  American  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. 
It  was  the  middle  of 
May  before  the  voyage  up 
the  Missouri  could  begin. 
With  sail  and  oars,  the 
A  MANOAN.  deeply  laden  keel-boat  was 

forced  slowly  along  against 
a  swift  yellow  tide,  which  ever  and  anon  hurled  floating 
trees  athwart  its  course,  or  brought  it  to  a  standstill  on 
some  hidden  sand-bar.  Compared  with  it,  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Ohio  was  but  a  pleasure-trip.  The  Platte, 
however,  was  reached  late  in  July.  Not  far  above,  the 
explorers  landed  to  hold  a  council  with  the  Otoes,  for 
which  reason  they  gave  the  })lace  the  name  of  Council 
Bluff. 

In   the   last    davs  of  October,  1804,  they  halted  for 


M- 


LEWIS    AND   CLARKE    ASC'ENI>    THK   MISSOIIU.      180 


was 
iaiiist 


or 


Litin 


11  on 

[viga- 

atte. 

the 

,fov 

liiucil 


tlie  \viiiter  at  llic  Maiidaii  villagvs,  sixti'on  liuiidrecl 
milt'S  from  tlic  Mississipj)i.  Sn  tar  tlio  joiirnev  had 
heeii  only  fatiguing.  Its  real  dilliculties  were  just 
heginning. 

The  winter  was  spent  in  making  ready  for  tlie  coming 
season's  work,  in  hunting  and  ex[)loring,  and  in  talks 
witli  the  Indians,  from  whom  it  was  now  learned  that 
after  many  days'  journey  toward  the  setting  sun,  the 
wliite  meu  would  come  to  a  gorge  wondrous  deej)  and 
wild,  where  the  whole  river  plunged  foaming  down 
with  thunderous  roar.  They  even  spoke  with  venera- 
tion of  the  solitary  eagle  wliich  had  built  her  nest  in  a 
dead  cottonwood  tree,  among  the  mists  of  the  cataract 
itself. 

AVitli  the  early  spring  (1805)  the  party  again  set 
out  in  good  liealth  and  spirits.  Before  doing  so  Captain 
Lewis  sent  back  all  but  the  bravest  and  strongest  men, 
as  he  was  now  about  to  enter  a  region  roamed  over 
]>y  predatory  savages,  whose  friendship  would  be  best 
secured  by  being  always  ready  to  fight  tltenj,  for 
though  brave,  they  would  seldom  attack  a  well-armed 
l»arty  of  whites  unless  the  advantage  was  on  their  own 
side. 

As  they  went  on,  each  day  found  the  navigation  of 
the  river  growing  more  and  more  difficult.  Sometimes 
they  were  forced  to  drag  their  canoes  slowly  ah)ng  with 
the  aid  of  towlines,  or  again  to  push  them  over  shallow 
places  or  through  dangerous  rapids  with  jwlcs.  Tlieir 
hunters  kept  them  supj)lied  with  venison,  bear  and 
buffido  meat,  which  they  were  now  mostly  to  live  tm 
f«»r  months  to  come. 

Tlie  Yellowstone  was  reached  and  passed.  On  the 
-'Itli  of   May   the  }»arty  came   in  sight  of  the   Rocky 


190      LEWIS   AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI. 


Moiiiitains, — n  loiio-  Hue  of  snowy  summits  nestlino 
amoiiff  clouds.  By  the  end  of  the  month  thev  were 
skirting-  the  I  Mack  Hills,  or  Cote  Noire  of  the  French 
traders.  The  river  grew  swifter  now,  and  its  bed 
thickly  sown  with  rocks.  Since  leaving  the  Mandan 
villages  no  permanent  habitations  had  been  seen, 
though  the  travellers  often  came  upon  traces  of  some 
transient  encampment  where  the  ground  would  be 
strewed  with  the  remnants  of  savage  feasts.  While 
the  men  were  Mearily  dragging  the  boats  on  at  a  snail's 
pace  through  the  river  shallows,  Captains  Lewis   and 


MANDAN    SKIN-BOATS. 


Clarke  would  be  scouting  the  country  in  advance,  rifle 
in  hand.  Whenever  a  bluff  was  climbed  to  gain  a  wider 
view,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  buffaloes  would  be 
seen  quietl}'  feeding  on  the  prairies,  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach.  Then  at  the  evening  halt,  round  the  camp-fires, 
the  events  of  the  day  would  be  noted  down,  its  diffi- 
culties talked  over,  and  the  chances  for  the  morrow 
discussed,  over  the  joints  of  venison  or  bear-meat  the 
hunters  had  In-ought  in.  At  dark  sentinels  were  posted. 
Relaxation  gave  way  to  discipline.  Fresh  logs  were 
thrown  on  the  blazing  fires.  The  men  stretched  them- 
selves on  the  ground  in  their  blankets,  and  soon  forgot 
the  fatigues  of  the  day.  At  dawn  the  camp  was  again 
astir. 


LEWIS    AND    CLAIIKK    ASCKNM)    THE    MISSOITKI.       101 


•vere 
3nch 
bed 
idau 
seen, 
some 
[I   be 
VHiile 
nail's 
and 


J,  rifle 
wider 
lid  be 
could 
vfires. 
;  difli- 
orrow 
it  the 
kosted. 

were 
1  tbeni- 
(forgot 

again 


•  Platte  is  Frt'ncli  for  low  or  flat. 
Long  says  it  derivL'w  its  iiaino  from  tlic 
fact  of  being  broad  and  whallow. 

-'  The  Missouui.  So  says  Charlc 
voix.  Marquette  calls  it  Pekitanoiii,  on 
UU  map.  It  was  not  unfrcquently  calU'd 
the  tJreat  River  of  the  Osages. 

3  Yellowstone  is  English  for 
Ilodie  Jaune,  the  oKl  French  name. 
liL.\CK  IIlLLS  were  Cole  Xoire. 


♦  The  Coli'miua.  Vancouver  had 
ascended  it  (17U2),  one  hundred  nules 
from  the  Bea. 

•''  Captain'  Meuiwetheu  F.ewis,  af- 
terwards governor  of  I.oiusiana,  coni- 
niiUed  suicide  in  a  lit  of  dei>ressioii. 

'■  Captain  Willia.m  Ci.auke  kept 
the  journal  of  the  expedition.  I'rother 
of  General  George  liogeni  Clarke. 


THEY    CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  while  scouting  in  advance  of 
liis  itarty,  Ca])tain  Lewis  saw,  in  the  distance,  a  thin 
cloudlike  mist  rising  up  out  of  tlie  plain.  To  liim  it 
was  like  the  guiding  column  wliieh  led  the  Israelites 
ill  tlie  desert.  Not  doubting  that  it  was  tlie  Great  Fall, 
which  the  ]\Iaiidans  had  told  him  about,  and  of  which 
lit'  was  ill  search,  Captain  Lewis  hastened  toward  it. 
He  soon  heard  it  roar  distinctly,  and  in  a  few  hours 
more  stood  on  the  brink  of  the  cataract  itself.  The 
Indians  had  told  him  truly.  Not  even  the  eagle's  nest 
was  wanting  to  make  their  description  complete. 

He  was  the  fust  Avhite  man  who  had  ever  stoo<l  there, 
and  he  calls  it  a  sublime  sight. 

Thirteen  miles  of  cascades  and  rapids  I  At  headlong 
sjiccd  the  Missouri  rushes  down  a  rocky  gorge,  through 
which  it  has  torn  its  way,  now  leaping  over  a  precipice, 
iidw  lost  to  sight  in  the  depths  of  the  canon, ^  a  thousand 
feet  below  the  plain,  or  again,  as  with  recovered  breath, 
l)reaking  away  from  these  dark  gulfs  into  the  light  of 
day  and  bounding  on  again.  No  wonder  the  discoverer 
stood  forgetful  of  all  else  but  this  wondrous  work  of 
nature  ! 


11)2 


THKV    ("ROSS    THK    TONTINKNT. 


Much  vahial)lc  lime  was  lost  in  p-etliiiu"  llic  l)i»ats  and 
l)a<;gag'('  round  these  I'alls.  To  pass  them  was  iuipussi- 
hk'.  It  was  necessary  to  l)iuld  carriaL]fes  on  whicli  tlic 
boats  were  dragged  by  luuid  a  distance  of  eighteen 
miles,  before  tliey  coidd  be  laun(.'lied  again. 

But  after  all  this  had  been  done  tlie  boats  were  found 
niisnited  to  the  navigation  of  tlu  liver  al)ove  them,  and 
so  new  ones  had  to  be  hewed  eat  <)f  the  trees  urowiner  oii 
the  banks,  which  could  better  withstand  the  l)uffetino- 
of  the  rocks.  In  these  the  paity  again  end)arked,  and 
on  the  loth  of  July  found  themscdves  just  entering  a 
deep  gorge  of  the  mountains,  live  miles  long,  througli 
W'  Ich  the  river  wound  its  way  l)etween  walls  of  rock 
that  rose  a  thousand  feet  above  their  heads.  Thoy 
named  this  awful  canon  the  Gate  of  the  Uocky  IMouii- 
tains. 

Boat  navigation  was  now  nearly  at  an  end.  Every 
day  the  scouts  were  sent  out  in  search  of  roving  Indians 
from  whom  they  might  get  horses  and  guides  to  cross 
the  mountains.  But  no  Indians  could  be  fisund.  A 
well-b  .iten  trail  had  been  followed  high  up  into  the 
hills,  but  lost  ao-ain  among  defdes  so  narrow  and  stonv. 
that  when  the  scouts  came  back  they  said  no  horseman 
could  go  through  them.  So  these  great  mountains, 
which  so  long  had  been  to  them  a  guide  and  landnunk. 
now  seemed  sternly  forbidding  their  farther  progress. 

Yet  at  all  risks  horses  and  guides  must  be  had.  Tell- 
ing his  men  he  would  not  come  back  till  lie  had  found 
them.  Captain  Lewis  set  out  on  his  forlorn  search,  know- 
ing that  on  him  depended  the  success  or  failure  of  tlie 
exi)edition.  The  men  remained  encamped  where  lie 
left  them.2 

While  engaged  in  this  search,  Captain  Lewis,  on  tlit 


THEY    ClIORS    THE    PONTINENT. 


19n 


s  and 
ipossi- 
■h  the 
vliteeii 

found 
m.  and 

ing  oil 
ilTetino' 
pd,  and 
ering  a 
hvonoli 
of  rock 
They 
-  Mouii- 

Every 
Indians 
to  cross 
md.  A 
into  the 
il  stony. 

)vseman 
luntains, 
admavk, 


lo-ress. 


Tell- 
(1  foiuul 
kn«)^v- 


o 


10 


f  11 
\\ieve  lu' 


1'2tli  of  August,  readied  the  liigliest  source  (»f  tlu^  Mis- 
souri. At  tlu-ee  thousand  niih»s  from  its  nioutli  it  dwin- 
dled  1o  a   mountain    l)rook.      Passlno;  tlic  ice    ovei'    the 


on 


tl 


11- 


GATE  OF  THE   KOrKY    MOl'NTAINS. 

dividing  ridge,  he  came  upon  the  waters  of  what  proved 
to  he  the  Cohimbia.  So  within  a  few  hours  lie  drank 
(»r  the  waters  of  both.  Following  the  stream  down  the 
mountain,  with  fresh  hope,  it  led  him  to  a  village  of 
I  lie  Shoshones  or  Snake  Indians.^ 


194 


THKV    CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 


No  sliipwrec'kcd  wanderer  on  .an  unknown  sea  ever 
looked  with  more  eagerness  on  a  rescuing  sail  tlian 
Lewis  did  upon  this  uneoutli  and  squalid  habitation 
in  the  wilderness.  The  Indians  woiUd  not  believe  he 
had  cros'^ed  the  mountains  on  toot  and  without  guides. 
At  length,  however,  some  of  them  agreed  to  go  back 
with  him,  and  these  having  found  his  story  true,  horses 
and  guides  were  furnished  for  the  white  men's  use. 

Thus  equipped,  the  i)arty  ))cgan  the  passage  of  the 
mountains,  following  the  obscure  windings  of  a  trail 
known  only  to  the  Indians  themselves.  They  found  it 
a  hard  march.  Sometimes  it  led  them  through  a  wild 
canon  strewed  with  stones  for  miles  together.  Some- 
times the  caravan  would  be  painfully  climbing  some 
slippery  height,  or  skirting  the  edge  of  a  precipice  where 
a  single  false  step  would  have  flung  horse  and  rider 
headlong  to  the  bottom  of  the  ravine. 

But  these  active  little  horses,  which  the  Indians  rode 
without  saddle  or  bridle,  unshod  and  ill-fed  as  they 
were,  did  their  work  to  the  admiration  of  the  white  men. 
Though  they  frequently  slipped  and  fell  with  their  bur- 
dens, they  w'ould  quickly  scramble  to  their  feet  again 
with  the  agility  of  mountain  goats. 

Almost  a  month  was  thus  spent  in  getting  through 
the  mountains.  Snow  fell,  and  water  froze  among  those 
rocky  heights.  On  some  days  five  miles  would  be  the 
most  they  could  advance.  On  others  they  could 
scarcely  go  forward  at  all.  The  plenty  they  had  enjoyed 
in  the  plains  gave  way  to  scarcity  or  worse.  Seldom 
could  the  hunters  bring  in  any  thing  but  a  pheasant,  a 
squirrel,  or  a  hawk,  to  men  famishing  with  hunger  and 
worn  down  by  a  hard  day's  tramp.  The  daily  food 
mostly  consisted  of  berries   and   dried  fish,  of  whieli 


THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 


195 


every  man  got  a  mouthful,  but  none  a  ('nil  meal.  When 
a  horse  gave  out  he  was  killccl  and  eaten  witli  avidity. 
'I'lie  men  grew  sick  and  dispirited  under  incessant  lidxir 
for  which  want  of  nourislnui:''  food  rendered  tiiem  every 
day  more  and  more  incapable.  In  short,  every  suffering 
which  cold,  hunger,  and  fatigue  could  l)ring,  Avas  borne 
i)V  these  explorers. 

Hagged,  half-starved,  and  foot-sore,  but  upheld  by 
the  courage  of  their  leaders,  the  explorers  came  out 
on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  less  like  conquerors 
than  fugitives. 

Their  guides  led  them  on,  past  many  streams,  till 
they  came  to  one  on  which  they  were  told  they  might 
safely  embark.  It  was  the  Kooskooskee.  This  was 
about  four  hundred  miles  from  the  place  where  they  had 
left  their  boats  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains. 
They  had  struck  one  of  the  southern  atlluents  of  tlie 
Columbia. 

Here  the  party  built  canoes  in  which  they  began  to 
descend  the  river,  leaving  tlieir  horses  with  the  Nez 
Percys  Indians*  to  keep  against  their  return.  In  three 
days  this  stream  led  into  a  larger  one  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  Lewis  River.  In  seven,  they  reached 
the  junction  of  a  larger  branch  coming  from  the  north, 
which  they  named  the  Clarke.  They  were  now  fairly 
afloat  upon  the  great  river  itself.  Down  this  they  pad- 
dled till  they  came  to  the  point  where  the  Columbia  ir* 
a  series  of  mad  leaps  breaks  through  the  lofty  Cascade 
chain. ^    These  too  were  safely  passed. 

It  was  now  late  in  October.  All  along  the  explorers 
had  found  camps  pitched  on  the  borders  of  the  rivers, 
for  the  Indians  of  this  region  lived  wholly  on  salmon, 
like  the  tribes  Mackenzie  had  fallen  in  with  on  Frazer 


19^5 


THEV    <JROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 


River.  WluMover  the  river  wiis  broken  by  riipids  ii 
noted  iishiiig-place  would  be  round,  no  tlie  travelleis 
were  now  in  a  land  oi'  plenty  :  but  the  farther  they  Tell 
down,  the  more  S(jnalid  the  Indians  beeanie,  and  of 
meaner  looks  and  statnr(\  Had  these  people  shown 
themselves  unfriendly,  Lewis  and  Clarke  might  never 


CATCHING    SALMON,   tOLlMBIA    lUVEU. 


have  reached  the  ocean,  for  the  valley  was  everywhere 
very  populous. 

Since  leaving  the  cascades,  evidences  of  approach  to 
the  sea  multiplied.  Up  to  that  point  no  lire-arms  had 
been  seen  among  the  Indians.  JNlany  now  had  guns,  and 
showed  themselves  more  and  more  presuming  toward 
the  white  men.  They  traversed  the  river  in  great  war 
canoes,  having  images  set  up  at  the  stem  and  stern,  like 
the  vikings  of  old.  But  our  men  did  not  fear  them. 
They  were  already  more  than  half  Indians  themselves 


TII1<:V    CKOSH   TIIK   CONTINKNT. 


107 


ill  dross,  looks  and  liiil)its  ol'  life.  Tlicy  luid  Icanjcd 
to  eat  dog-meat,  and  to  mala;  their  beds  wherever  the 
niglit  found  tlieni. 

Soon  tlie  ti(K;s  were  oliserved.  On  tlie  Tth  of  Novem- 
ber tlie  roar  of  the  l)reakers  was  lieard  in  the  distance. 
They  liad  readied  tlieir  goal  at  last. 

A  most  inhos[)ital)h'  weleonu;  awaited  the  explonn-s. 
They  had  struck  the  coast  in  the  rainy  season.  Th(^ 
floods  drove  them  from  their  lirst  caiiip  on  the  north 
side,  to  the  soutli  side  of  th(^  river,  where  they  set  to 
work  building  themselves  ^vinter  (juarters.  The  little 
clumj)  of  cabins  was  named  Fort  Clatso[),  from  the  tribe 
on  whose  land  it  stood,  with  the  llag  the  ex[)lorers  had 
brought  waving  over  it.     Here  the  winter  was  passed. 

In  March,  1806,  the  explorers  began  their  journey 
home.  At  the  Falls  of  the  Columbia  they  bought  horses 
which  took  them  to  the  place  where  their  own  had  been 
left.  From  here  they  travelled  on  an  east  line  through 
the  mountains  till  the  head  of  Clarke's  Kiver  Avas  struck. 
The  party  was  then  divided.  One  band  under  Lewis 
crossed  the  mountains  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Maria 
Kiver,  while  the  other,  under  the  lead  of  Clarke,  passed 
them  low^er  downi,  so  reaching  the  sources  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, dowMi  which  they  floated  to  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous. 


'  C'AFfoy.  Spanish  for  ravine  or 
gorge;  iironountrcd,  kaii-ijon.  Tiio 
word  has  been  natiirulized  in  the  Went. 

2  Encamped  on  tiik  Missouri,  at 
the  head  of  the  Jel'terwon  Iviver. 

^  SnosHONES,  or  Snakks,  occuiiied 
the  country  west  of  tlie  mountains  and 
h<outli  of  the  Salmon  Hiver.  They  had  a 
uustoiu  of   taking  oH  their   moccasius 


when  mcotinicf  a  strant'or  and  wishing  to 
show  aniily. 

■•  Nkz  eKiicKSi,  or  I'ierced  Noses, 
lived  about  the  waters  of  the  Kouskoos- 
kee  and  Lewis,  next  north  of  the  Sho- 
shonee. 

6  Cascade  Mountains  take  their 
name  from  the  cascades  formed  by  the 
Culuiubiu  in  its  passage  through  them. 


198 


THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 


PIKE   EXPLORES  THE   ARKANSAS  VALLEY. 

PIKE'S  PEAK  A    LANDMARK. 

In  tlio  courso  of  iin  cxpcMlition  made  to  the  [^pper 
Mississippi,  in  tiiu  ycais  1805  uiid  1800,  Lieuteiuiiit 
Zobiilon  M.  Pike'  hud  shown  snch  iiptitnde  for  the 
woi'k  of  an  explorer,  that  he  was  immediately  choseu 
to  lead  another  to  tlie  sources  of  the  Arkansas.  Pike 
was  directed  to  go  through  the  country  of  the  Usages, 
with  whom  the  Kansas  nation  was  then  at  war,  and, 
after  effecting  a  peace  between  them,  "  to  ascertain  the 
direction,  extent,  and  navigation  of  the  Arkansas  and 
Red  Rivers." 

In  pursuance  of  these  orders  Pike  left  St.  Louis  in 
July,  1S0(3,  for  the  Osage  villages,  in  row-boats  which 
made  about  iifteen  miles  a  day,  his  men  living  on  the 
bears,  deer,  and  turkeys  killed  along  the  banks.  Turn- 
ing into  the  Osage  River,  the  Indian  villages  were 
reached  {d)out  the  middle  of  August,  and  Pike  here 
began  mounting  his  party  for  the  long  land  journey 
before  him. 

Having  accomplished  this,  the  party  set  out  for  the 
Pawnee  villages  on  the  Platte.  Near  the  Grand  Osage 
Village,  Peter  Chouteau,'*^  a  French  trader,  had  a  trad- 
ing-house, which  was  the  last  sign  of  civilization  the 
explorers  would  see  until  the  Spanish  settlements  of 
New  jNIexico  were  reached. 

Tents  were  struck  Sept.  1.  The  exploring  party 
rode  away  in  high  spirits,  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
train  of  warriors  who,  in  this  way,  did  honor  to  those 
whom  they  considered  their  guests. 

After  following  the  Osage  for  acme  distance  Pike 


lT[)pei' 
Liteiiaiit 
for  the 

clioseu 
.  Pike 
Usages, 
ir,  and, 
ain  the 
isas  and 

^oiiis  in 

s  wliich 

on  tlu! 

Turn- 

fcs   were 

e  here 

ourney 

for  the 
Osage 
a  trad- 
ion  the 
ents  of 

party 
nierous 
those 

Pike 


■HP 


200       PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS    VALLEY. 


struck  across  the  country  to  the  Neosho,  <a  tributary  of 
the  Arkansas.  As  lie  rode  on  across  the  dividing-  ridge 
the  prairies  of  Kansas  broke  on  his  sight  like  a  scene  of 
enchantment.  He  seemed  discovering  a  corner  of  para- 
dise itself. 

From  the  Neosho,  Pike  passed  over  to  the  Smoky 
Hill  Fork  of  the  Kansas,  and  thence  to  the  Republican, 
meaning  to  proffer  friendship  to  the   Pawnees,  whose 

evil  reputation,  how- 
ever, boded  no  good 
to  his  mission. 

When  he  came  to 
their  villages  the 
Pawnees  had  just 
been  visited  by  an 
embassy  sent  from 
New  Mexico  to  sow 
distrust,  if  not  enmi- 
ty, toward  the  Ameri- 
cans. The  Spaniards 
had  come  with  three 
hundred  men,  by  the 
side  of  whom  Pike's 
twenty-three  looked 
small  indeed,  and  to  the  Pawnees  indicated  the  number 
of  warriors  each  nation  had  at  its  connnand.  They 
were  therefore  at  no  pains  to  hide  their  disdain. 

Pike  found  them  in  this  temper.  Knowing  it  v/ould 
never  do  to  show  fear,  he  hoisted  his  flag  in  the  chief 
town  to  let  them  see  that  sour  looks  and  uncivil  words 
could  not  turn  him  from  his  purpose  of  making  them 
show  resi)ect  for  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
even  if  they  felt  a  preference  for  the  Spaniarda. 


INDIAN    BUKIAL  I'LACE. 


PIKE    EXPLOTIES   THE    ARKANSAS    VALLEY.        201 


just 


liards 
three 
)j  tlie 
Pike's 
ooked 
iiinl)er 
The) 

would 
chief 

words 
tlieni 

itiites. 


His  mission  in  this  quarter  having  failed,  Pike  turned 
hack  to  the  Arkansas,  which  was  readied  on  the  18th 
of  October.  At  this  point  Lieutenant  Wilkinson  was 
sent  down  the  river,  while  Pike  himself  began  the 
work  of  tracing  it  to  its  source.  When  he  had  done 
this,  Pike  meant  to  cross  over  to  the  head  of  Red 
River  and  then  descend  it  to  Natchitoches,  so  complet- 
ing the  work  laid  out  for  him,  which,  we  have  seen, 
was  partly  diplomatic  and  partly  geographical  in  its 
nature ;  for  the  government  wished  to  have  the  natives 
not  only  keep  peace  toward  us,  but  among  themselves. 
So  we  at  least  set  out  in  our  new  purchase  with  a 
sound  Indian  policy. 

Thus  Pike's  explorations  would  take  in  all  the  great 
central  region  lying  between  the  waters  of  the  Red  and 
Platte  Rivers  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  to-day 
is  perhaps  the  most  fertile  and  populous  of  all  the 
Great  West. 

But  Pike's  plans  were  doomed  to  meet  failure,  and 
lie  himself  to  sufferings  which  a  man  of  weaker  mould 
would  have  sunk  under.  As  it  was.  they  served  to 
bring  out  those  splendid  qualities  which  raised  him 
bo  the  rank  of  general  at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  and 
made  his  name  renowned  in  our  military  annals. 

On  the  15th  of  November  he  came  in  sight  of  the 
lofty  Spanish  Peaks.  Soon  the  diminishing  river  he 
was  following  buried  itself  among  the  hills,  where 
it  was  lost  to  view.  Thinking  thus  to  get  a  better 
idea  of  the  country  round  him.  Pike  set  out  on  a 
prospecting  tour,  in  the  course  of  which  he  climbed 
the  elevated  peak  now  so  fitly  bearing  his  own  name, 
and  saw  the  matchless  view  outspread  from  its  sum- 
mit. 


202        PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS   VALLEY. 


Winter  had  now  set  in.  Day  b}^  day  difficulties 
miiltii)lied.  The  streams  were  frozen  up  or  buried  in 
snow-drifts,  so  that  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  follow 
them  into  the  ravines  which  gave  them  birth.  Where 
to  look  for  the  sources  of  Red  River,  Pike  knew  not. 
Decoj'ed  among  tlie  hills,  till  all  l)earings  were  lost, 
his  search  for  it  was  in  vain.  Beaten  back,  but  not 
dismayed,  he  then  spent  days  in  trying  to  recover  the 
trail  made  by  the  Spaniards  in  going  from  Santa  Fe  to 

the  Platte.  It  was 
obliterated  by  frost 
and  snow.  Baffled 
everywhere,  his 
party  wandered  to 
and  fro  like  lost 
men,  often  without 
food  or  shelter,  but 
directed  and  en- 
couraged to  new- 
efforts  by  their  un- 
conquerable leader. 
At  last,  when 
nearly  spent,  tlie 
party  reached  the  banks  of  a  stream  which  Pike  be- 
lieved to  be  the  one  he  was  in  search  of.  One  can 
hardly  realize  to-day  this  desperate  struggle  for  life 
as  taking  place  among  the  pleasure-grounds  of  Colo- 
rado. 

Men  and  animals  being  broken  down  with  fatigue, 
and  all  in  danger  of  perishing  for  want  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life.  Pike  resolved  to  send  to  Santa  Ffe  for  the 
help  without  which  he  could  not  stir  from  the  place 
where  he  then  was.     Dr.  Robinson  offered  himself  tu 


I'lRE'a  PEAK. 


PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS    V^ ALLEY.        203 


go  on  this  errand.  He  was  one  of  the  strongest  men 
of  the  party,  and  second  only  to  Pike  as  a  hunter. 
The  hopes  of  t!ie  explorers  went  with  him.  When  he 
iiad  gone,  all  who  could  still  work  were  set  to  building 
a  block-house,  for  shelter  or  defence. 

One  day  while  Pike  was  out  hunting,  two  stran- 
gers rode  up  to  him.  They  had  come  from  Santa  Fe. 
Robinson  had  safely  arrived,  and  would  soon  be  heard 
from.  Feeling  no  mistrust  of  them,  Pike  took  these 
strangers  back  to  his  camp.  To  his  surprise  he  then 
learned  that  he  was  but  two  days'  journey  from 
Santa  F6. 

These  visitors  had  not  been  gone  many  days  when  a 
squadron  of  Spanish  horse  rode  up  to  the  block-house. 
The  officer  in  command  then  notified  Pike  that  he  was 
encamped  on  the  Rio  Grande,  on  Spanish  ground.  It 
was  now  clear  that  the  first  visitors  were  sent  to  spy 
out  Pike's  place  of  retreat,  while  this  force  followed  on 
to  take  the  Americans  prisoners.  It  also  came  to  light 
that  they  were  suspected  of  having  a  design  to  seize 
the  province  ^  of  New  Mexico. 

Pike  went  to  Santa  F^  to  explain  why  he  was 
found  trespassing  on  Spanish  territory,  but  was  held 
as  a  prii?oner  with  his  men,  whose  appearance,  as  he 
describes  it,  is  the  best  proof  of  the  hardships  they 
had  undergone  while  lost  in  the  mountains.  He 
says, — 

"When  we  presented  ourselves  at  Santa  F^,  I  was 
.Iressed  in  a  pair  of  blue  trousers,  moccasins,  blanket- 
coat,  and  a  cap  made  of  scarlet  cloth  lined  with  fox- 
skins,  and  my  poor  fellows  in  leggings,  breech-cloths, 
ind  leather  coats.  There  was  not  a  hat  in  the  whole 
party.     Our  appearance  was   extremely  mortifying   to 


204        1»IKE    EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS    VALLEY. 


US  all,  especially  as  soldiers ;  and  although  some  of  the 
officers  would  frequentl}''  say  to  me,  that  "  Worth  made 
the  man,'  yet  tlio  first  impression  made  on  the  ignorant 
is  hard  to  eradicate ;  and  greater  proof  cannot  be 
given  of  the  ignorance  of  the  connnon  people  here 
than  their  asking  if  we  lived  in  houses,  or  camps  like 
the  Indians,  or  if  we  wore  hats  in  our  country." 

After  a  brief  detention,  the  explorers  were  sent  back 
to  the  United  States,  under  aimed  escort,  by  way  of 
El  Paso,  San  Antonio  and  Natchitoches.  Pike's  papers 
were  taken  from  him,  so  depriving  the  world  of  tln> 
interesting  details  which  at  that  time  were  eagerly 
sought  for,  but  now  had  to  be  supplied  largely  from 
memory. 

At  the  same  time  that  Pike  was  engaged  in  these 
explorations,  parties  were  sent  up  the  Red  and  Washita 
Rivers,  with  the  view  of  enlarging  the  scope  of  hi> 
undertaking.* 


»  Zebl'lon  Montgomert  Pike, 
born  New  Jersey,  1779.  He  was  killed 
while  leading  an  attack  on  York  (Toron- 
to), Upper  Canada,  in  1813,  having  then 
reached  the  grade  of  brigadier-general. 
His  expedition  to  tlie  upper  Mississippi 
in  1805-6  was  to  take  formal  posscHt^ion 
of  the  country,  and  to  notify  the  Bntish 
intruders  of  the  North  West  Company 
to  leave  it.  Its  objects  were  chielly 
l>oliiical  and  military.  At  this  lime  Pike 
iKjughi  of  the  Indians  the  ground  on 
which  Fort  .duelling  stands,  the  post 
being  named  for  Colonel  Josiah  Snelling, 
a  distingiii.^heil  otlicer  of  the  Unlbed 
Slates  army. 

*  ArcusTE  and  Pieure  (Peter) 
CnovTEAr.  (See  note  '2,  "Acquisition 
of  l/ouisiana.")  Founders  of  St.  Louis 
with  Laclede.    Auguste   was  iu  charge 


of  the  party  that  commenced  operations 
here  In  time  the  brothers  became  iIr' 
greatest  fur-traders  of  the  West.  Tlu" 
post  among  the  Osagee  was  in  charge  ct 
Peter,  who  wiis  subsequently  niailo 
United  .States  agent  to  that  nation. 

*  A  Design  to  seize  the  I'uov 
INCB.  The  Spanish  authorities  had  been 
warned  to  be  on  ihoir  guard  agaiutst  the 
filibustering  expedition  of  Aaron  lUin. 
They  thought  Pike's  appearance  on  their 
frontier  part  of  Burr's  scheme,  and  pici 
feseed  to  believe  the  exploration  a  cloak 
for  hostile  intentions.  Burr's  conspiracy, 
broadly  siwaking,  though  it  forms  an 
interesting  episotle,  has  no  ))lace  in  ilio 
plan  of  this  volume.  Its  history,  how 
ever,  should  be  read  by  every  student. 

*  Red  and  Washita  were  exploicil 
by  Dunbar,  Hunter  and  Sibley. 


NEW    MEXICO    IN    1807. 


205 


NEW    MEXICO   IN   1807. 


Although,  in  its  main  objects,  Pike's  expedition  seems 
unfruitful  of  results,  we  owe  to  liis  capture  an  interest- 
iiiGf  account  of  New  Mexico,  as  he  saw  it  at  that  time. 

'' The  village  of  the  Warm  Springs  orAquaCaliente," 
lie  tells  us,  "at  a  clistan(,*e  presents  to  the  eye  a  square 
enclosure  of  mud  walls, 
the  houses  forming  the 
\\i\\\.  They  are  tlat  on 
top,  or  with  very  little 
ascent  on  one  side, 
where  spouts  carry  off 
tlie  water  of  the  melt- 
ing snow  and  rain, 
when  it  falls,  which, 
we  were  told,  had  been  Cv! 
hut  once  in  two  years. 

''  The  houses  were 
all  of  one  story,  the 
doors  narrow,  the  win- 
dows small,  and  in  one 
or  two  houses  there 
were  talc  lights.  This 
village  had  a  mill  near 
it,  situated  on  the  lit- 
tle creek  of  the  same  name,  which  made  very  good 
Hour.  The  population  consisted  of  perhajis  five  hun 
tired  Indians,  civilized,  but  of  much  mixed  blood. 

"Here  we  had  a  dance  which  is  called  the  fandango, 
hut  there  was  one  other,  which  was  coi)ied  from  the 
Mexieans,  and  is  now  danced  in  tlie  lirst  societies  of 


THE   TUCCA-TREE  :   8PANISU  BAYONET. 


206 


NEW   MEXICO   IN   1807. 


New  Spain,  and  has  even  been  introduced  at  the  court 
of  Madrid. 

"  The  greatest  natural  curiosity  is  the  warm  springs, 
of  whicli  there  are  two,  each  affording  sufficient  water 
for  a  niill-seat.  They  appeared  to  be  impregnated  witli 
copper,  and  were  more  than  33°  above  blood-heat. 
From  this  village  the  Indians  drove  oft*  two  thousand 
horses  at  one  time,  when  at  war  with  tlie  Spaniards. 

"  St.  John's  (San  Juan)  was  also  enclosed  by  a  mud 
wall,  and  probably  contained  one  thousand  souls ;  its 
population  also  cliie%  consisted  of  civilized  Indians,  as 
indeed  do  all  the  villages  of  New  jNIexico,  the  whites  not 
forming  the  one-twentieth  part  of  the  inliabitants. 

"  The  house-tops  of  this  village,  as  well  as  the  streets, 
were  crowded  when  we  entered  it.  At  the  door  of  the 
public  quarters,  we  were  met  by  the  priest.  When  the 
officer  in  charge  of  my  escort  dismounted,  and  embraced 
him,  all  the  poor  creatures  who  stood  around  strove  to 
kiss  the  ring  or  hand  of  the  holy  ftither.  M}'  men  were 
taken  to  the  quarters  provided  for  them,  and  I  went  to 
the  priest's,  who  offered  me  coffee,  chocolate,  or  what- 
ever else  he  had,  and  bid  me  consider  myself  at  home  in 
his  house. 

"  Santa  F^,  the  capital,  is  situated  along  the  banks  of  a 
small  creek,  which  comes  down  from  the  mountains,  and 
runs  west  to  the  Rio  del  Norte.  Although  it  is  but  three 
streets  in  width,  it  is  about  a  mile  long.  Seen  from  a 
distance,  I  was  struck  with  the  resemblance  to  a  fleet  of 
flat-boats  floating  down  the  Ohio  in  the  spring.  There 
are  two  churches,  whose  fine  steeples  form  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  squalid  apjjearance  of  the  houses  around  them. 

"In  the  centre  is  the  public  square,  or  plaza,  one  sidu 
of  which  forms  the  flank  t»f  the  soldiers'  square,  wliicii 


NEW   MEXICO    IN    1807. 


207 


is  closed  and  in  some  degree  defended  by  round  towers 
in  the  angles,  which  flank  the  four  curtains :  another 
side  of  the  square  is  formed  bv  the  palace  of  the  gov- 
ernor, his  guard-houses,  etc.  The  third  side  is  occupied 
by  the  priests  aiul  their  suite,  and  the  fourth  ])y  the  Cha- 
petones  who  reside  in  the  city.  The  houses  are  generally 
only  one  story  high,  with  Hat  roofs,  and  have  a  very 
mean  appearance  on  the  outside,  thougli  some  are  richly 
furnished,  especially  with  plate.     Tlie  supi)0sed  popu- 


CUUKCU,   tJANTA   FE,   WITU   FORT   MAKCV. 


lation  is  four  thousand  five  hundred  souls.  On  our  en- 
tering the  town,  the  crowd  was  very  great,  and  followed 
us  to  the  government  house.  When  we  dismounted, 
we  were  taken  thrf)Ugli  various  rooms,  the  floors  of 
which  were  covered  with  buffalo-robes,  bear-skins,  or 
those  of  other  animals,  to  a  chamber  where  we  waited 
for  some  time,  until  his  excellency  appeared." 

In  going  down  the  valley  into  Texas,  Pike  gained 
some  insight  into  the  traffic  carried  on  between  Old  and 
New  Mexico,  and  of  its  regulated  movements. 


208 


NEW    MEXICO    IN    1807. 


"We  passed  the  encampment,"  he  continues,  "of  the 
caravan,  going  out  witli  about  llfteen  thousand  shee]t 
for  the  otliei'  provinces,  from  which  tiiey  bring  back 
merchandise.  This  expedition  consisted  of  about  tln'ee 
hundred  men,  ciiielly  citizens,  who  were  escorted  by  an 
ollicer  and  forty  soldiers.  They  come  together  at  Cibo- 
letta  in  February,  and  separate  there  on  their  return  in 
March.  A  simihir  expedition  goes  out  in  the  autumn. 
At  other  times  of  the  year  no  citizen  travels  over  the 
road,  the  couriers  alone  excepted.  At  the  pass  of  the 
Rio  del  Norte,  the  couriers  meet  and  exchange  packets, 
when  each  returns  to  his  own  province.  We  met  a 
caravan  of  fifty  men  and  probably  two  hundred  horses, 
loaded  with  goc^ds  for  New  Mexico. 

"Saturday  morning,  March  21,  we  arrived  at  the  Paso 
del  Norte,  through  a  mountainous  country.  We  put  up 
at  the  house  of  Don  Francisco  Garcia,  who  is  a  wealth} 
merchant,  and  planter.  He  had,  in  the  neighborhood, 
twenty  thousand  sheep  and  one  thousand  cows.  We 
were  received  in  a  most  hospitable  manner,  by  Don 
Pedro  Roderique  Rey,  the  lieutenant-governor,  anil 
Father  Josei)h  Prado,  tlie  vicar  of  the  place.  This  was 
by  far  the  most  flourishing;  town  we  had  so  far  been  in.'" 


GOLD   IN   COLORADO. 

A  Trapper's  Story. 

Pike  found  but  one  American  living  in  Santa  Fc. 
This  man  had  been  a  trapper,  accustomed  to  the  wilil 
and  free  life  of  the  plains,  and  this  was  the  story  lie 
told. 

James  Pursley  was  a  Kentuckian  who  had  gone  in 


GOLD    IN    COLORADO, 


20!> 


170!>  to  St.  Louis,  lured  hy  tlie  thirst  for  adventure  Tor 
wliieli  men  of  his  ehiss  willingly  give  up  all  the  com- 
forts of  civilized  life.  lie  was  one  of  those  men  who, 
like  Daniel  Boone,'  thought  it  time  to  move  on  when 
lie  could  no  longer  fell  a  tree  so  that  its  top  would  lie 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  door  of  his  cabin. 

So  in  advance  of  the  explorer  comes  the  trapper  of 
the  West,  who,  while  Hying  from  civilization,  is  actually 
paving  the  way  for  its  coming  in  si)ite  of  himself. 

In  1802,  with  two  companions,  Pursley  left  St.  Louis, 
and  travelled  west  to  the  head  of  the  Osage,  where 
they  made  a  successful  hunt.  From  thence  the  trappers 
started  for  the  White  River  of  Arkansas,  meaninc:  to 
go  down  to  New  Orleans  with  their  i)eltries,  but  while 
getting  ready  for  the  long  voyage  the  Indians  stole 
their  horses  from  them. 

The  hunters  pursued  the  robbers  to  their  villages. 
The  horses  were  there,  but  the  Indians  would  not 
give  them  up.  Seeing  an  Indian  riding  on  his  horse, 
Pursley  ran  up  to  him,  and  with  his  hunting  knife 
ripped  open  the  horse's  bowels.  The  incensed  savage 
instantly  ran  to  his  lodge  for  his  gun.  It  missed  fire. 
Pursley  then  sprang  upon  him  with  his  drawn  knife  in 
his  hand  The  Indian  took  refuge  in  a  lodge  filled 
with  children  and  squaws.  The  chiefs  were  so  struck 
with  the  bravery  of  the  "  mad  Americans,"  as  they 
called  them,  that  they  gave  them  back  their  horses 
again. 

Pursley  and  his  comrades  then  returned  to  the  place 
where  they  had  hid  their  jjcltry,  meaning  to  go  to  St. 
Louis  by  land,  but  when  they  were  near  the  Osage, 
tlieir  horses  were  again  stolen.  Hewing  themselves  a 
canoe  out  of  a  log,  they  paddled  down  the  Osage  with 


210 


(SOliD    IN    ('OI>()RAI)n. 


out  furlluM-  misadveutiire  till  they  ciiine  to  its  moutli, 
when  the  ciinoe  overset,  and  th  '  whole  year's  hunt  was 
lost.     They,  however,  nuinaged  lo  save  their  powder  and 


guns. 


In  the  Missouri  they  met  a  Freneh  trader  going  up  to 
the  Mandan  eountry.  Pursley  at  once  engaged  to  g(. 
with  him  for  the  voyage. 

On  reaching  their  destination,  Pursley  was  sent  out 
on  a  hunting  and  trading  trip  with  some  friendly  Padu- 
cas  and  Kiowas,  they  taking  with  them  a  few  trading 
goods.  In  the  ensuing  spring,  while  hunting  at  the 
sources  of  the  Platte,  they  were  driven  into  the  neigh- 
boring mountains  b)'^  hostile  Sioux.  Pursley  estimated 
their  number  at  two  thousand,  with  ten  thousand  ani- 
mals. Well  was  this  nation  called  the  Scourge  of  the 
Great  Plains ! 

Knowing  themselves  to  be  on  the  borders  of  New 
Mexico,  it  was  decided  that  Pursley,  with  a  few  others, 
should  go  to  Santa  Fe  in  order  to  learn  if  the  Spaniards 
would  give  them  good  treatment  if  they  came  there  to 
trade. 

The  Spanish  governor  having  promised  them  good 
treatment,  the  Indian  deputies  went  back  to  their 
bands,  but  rather  than  again  risk  capture  by  the  cruel 
Sioux,  Pursley  thought  best  to  stay  where  he  was, 
among  a  civilized  people.  He  arrived  at  Santa  F^  in 
June,  1805,  and  had  been  following  the  carpenter's 
trade  ever  since.  Lieutenant  Pike  describes  him  as  ii 
man  of  strong  natural  sense,  of  dauntless  courage,  and 
the  iirst  American  who  had  penetrated  so  far  into  the 
wilds  of  Louisiana. 

Among  other  things,  Pursley  told  Lieutenant  Pike 
"  that  he  htid  found  gold  on  the  head  waters   of  the 


(iOLD    IN    COLOKADO. 


211 


Platte,  and  liad  carried  soino  of  tlic  virgin  nro  about 
with  him  in  his  sliot-poucli  for  niontiis;  l)n(  hcing  in 
doubt  wheliiur  lie  slionld  over  again  l)ehold  the  civil- 
ized world,  and  having  wholly  discarded  all  the  ideal 
value  with  which  mankind  has  stamped  that  metal,  he 
threw  the  sample  away;  that  he  had  imprudently  men- 
tioned it  to  the  Spaniards,  who  had  frequently  impor- 
tuned him  to  go  and  show  them  the  place,  though, 
conceiving  it  to  lie  in  our  territory,  he  had  always  re- 
fused, and  was  fearful  that  his  doing  so  might  ])r()ve  an 
obstacle  to  his  leaving  the  country/' 

This  man  little  dreamed  that  after  Ivino*  dormant  half 
a  century,  the  discovery  of  which  he  thotight  so  little 
would  one  day  be  the  making  of  a  great  State. 


>  Dan'IEL  Hoone  went  from  Kcii- 
Uicky  lo  Mi«80iiii  in  1794,  wliile  it  wnw 
yei  a  Spiiiiiuli  province.  Tlio  Spanish 
governor  ailoltotl  bini  ten  tliousatul  acres 
ill  till!  District  of  St.  Cliarles,  and  alno 
made  him  syndic  of  tlie  district.  Tlie 
name  want  of  forecast  which  had  cxilctl 
iiim  from  Ivcntucliy  lost  him  this  sjrant. 
In  hir3  old  age  he  was  compelled  to  ap 


l)onl  to  Congress  for  relief,  that  hody 
granting  him  one  thousand  nrpeiits  of 
land  in  the  District  of  St.  Charles.  In 
1811  he  was  still  following  the  business 
of  a  trapper.  A  traveller  saw  hmi  re- 
turning home,  at  eighty-four  years  of 
age,  with  sixty  beaver-skins.  He  was 
then  a  hale  old  man.  Boone  Coumy  and 
Booneville,  Mo.,  are  named  for  him. 


THE   FLAG   IN   OREGON. 

We  have  seen  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  plan  for  securing 
tiie  commerce  of  the  Great  West  needed  two  things  for 
its  success.  One  was  a  road  across  the  continent.  This 
had  been  found.  The  other  want  was  a  port  on  the 
Pacific.  When  this  had  been  met,  not  only  would  the 
resources  of  Louisiana  lie  open  to  East  and  West,  but 
the  way  to  India  be  found,  and  the  unity  of  America 
secured  for  all  time. 


■212 


THE   FLAO    IN    ()IlK(}ON. 


As  omif^ratioii  was  only  just  l)('j^iiiiiiii<^  to  cross  tlic 
Mississippi,  it  scarcely  \vt'i<^iic(l  in  the  Ijjilance  witli  coiii- 
iiieree,  hut  was  as  sure  to  follow  it  as  ^rass  to  grow 
or  water  run. 

Our  (Joveninient  Iwivino-  thus  cleared  the  way,  the  St. 
Louis  traders  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  it. 
In  1808  they  oro-anized  tlu^  American  Fur  Company, 
which  immediately  sent  iin  agent  into  the  coveted  terri- 
tory, where  he  set  up  a  trading-house  known  as  Post 
ilenry  on  the  Lewis  River. 

John  Jacob  Astor,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  carrying  out  the  whole  scheme  as 
formulated  in  Mr.  Jeffer.son's  mind,  not  as  a  monopolist, 
protected  l)y  Government  with  exclusive  privileges,  but 
as  a  private  person,  who  undertakes  an  enterjirisc  on 
his  own  judgment,  andJ[)acks  it  up  with  liis  own  means. 

Mr.  Astor  was  a  shrewd  and  careful  merchant  who 
had  grown  very  wealthy  from  the  profits  of  the  fur- 
trade.  He  had  the  money.  lie  knew  the  price  of  a 
beaver  or  an  otter  skin  in  every  market  of  the  world. 
He  had  the  whole  A  B  C  of  commerce  at  his  fingers' 
ends.  Uniforml}'-  successful  in  whatever  he  undertook, 
his  judgment  inspired  confidence  in  others,  as  superior 
business  tact  is  sure  to  do ;  hence  iSh.  Astor  had  no 
difficulty  in  securing  partners  in  his  enterprise.  It  was 
seen  that  the  key  to  success  lay  in  the  hands  of  who- 
ever should  first  occupy  the  rich  fur-bearing  valleys  of 
the  Columbia  River. 

There  was  nothing  niggardly  about  this  princelv 
merchant's  preparations,  once  he  had  made  up  his  minii 
to  embark  in  the  adventure.  Every  thing  was  conceived 
on  a  most  liberal  scale,  and  nothing  was  left  to  chance. 
Que  company  of  agents,  clerks,  and  laborers  was  sent 


THE   FLAG    IN   OUEGON. 


213 


loniul  Capo  I[oni,  with  ordors  to  bogiu  n  station  at  tlu» 
Colinnbia  Uiver, should  tiioy  first  airivc  on  tlic  giound. 
An(>tlier  coniiuuiy,  ninnhering  sixty  persons,  cither 
iigents,  trappers,  guides,  or  inter[»retors,  went  IVoni  St. 
I.ouis  up  tlie  Missouri  and  Yellowstone,  and  so  aeross 
ihe  great  snowy  range  into  the  Columbia  Ijasin. 

This  was  in  1810.  The  next  vear  Mr.  Astor  de- 
s[)atehed  a  second  shij)  to  the  Colunihia  with  further 
supplies  of  men  and  means. 

The  Tonquin,  the  pioneer  ship,  arrived  in  the  Colum- 
bia before  the  overland  party  did.  A  site  was  chosen 
ten  miles  up  the  river,  r n  the  south  side,  and  the  work 
of  erecting  a  trading-post  begun  at  once,  so  that  when 
the  advance  of  the  overland  party  reached  it  (January, 
1812),  in  the  utmost  destitution,  they  foi'.nd  relief 
within  its  walls. 

In  honorof  its  projector  the  builders  called  their  set- 
tlement Astoria.  Its  history  was  destined  to  be  brief 
hut  eventful.  In  the  first  place,  the  rivalry  of  the  Brit- 
ish North-west  Com[)any  soon  made  itself  felt.  Its 
agents  spread  themselves  out  over  the  upper  Columbia 
waters,  so  intercepting  the  Indian  trade.  Then  news 
was  brought  to  the  factory,  of  the  taking  of  the  Ton- 
(Uiin  and  massacre  of  her  crew  by  the  Indians,  with 
whom  she  was  trading,  near  the  Straits  of  Fuca. 

The  ship  Beaver,  with  the  third  detachment,  ar- 
rived out  in  May,  1812.  She,  too,  sailed  on  a  trading- 
voyage  up  the  coast.  A  party  was  sent  out  from 
Astoria,  at  this  time,  to  establish  a  trading-post  on  the 
Spokane  River,  which,  with  one  already  begun  at 
Okonagon,  was  the  second  this  company  had  formed 
ill  the  interior. 

In  Juue,  1812,  war  broke  out  between  England  and 


214 


THE    FLAG    IN    OHEHON. 


the  riiitod  States.  It  was  January  before  tlie  people  at 
Astoria  heard  of  it.  Finding  themselves  out  off  from 
help  on  the  one  side,  and  threatened  with  capture  on 
the  other,  Astor's  agents  sold  the  property  to  the  North- 
west Company,  into  whose  hands  it  thus  passed,  not 
without  sus[)icion  of  collusion  on  the  part  of  the  sellers. 
This  was  in  October,  1813. 

In  this  way  an  enterjjrise  which  had  been  sagaciously 
planned,  backed  with  abundant  means,  and  had  passed 
through  the  preliminary  stage  of  trial  to  assured  suc- 
cess, came  to  an  inglorious  end  because  the  Govern- 
ment lacked  means  to  protect  it.  And  so  Americans 
were  ousted  from  Oregon,  and  Englishmen  put  in  pos- 
session, which  wns  much  like  giving  the  wolf  the  wethor 
to  keep. 


LOUISIANA  ADMITTED. 

Louisiana  came  into  the  Union  in  1812,  so  making 
it  the  eighveenth  State  in  the  order  of  succession,  as  it 
was  the  iirst  formed  of  any  portion  jf  the  territory 
we  had  acquired  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Louisiana  is 
therefore  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Great  West. 

Louisiana  came  in  at  the  beginning  of  a  period  of 
strife  and  bloodshed.  England  made  a  most  desperate 
effort  to  seize  New  Orleans,  with  intent  to  obtain  con- 
trol of  the  Mississippi,  or  at  least  to  gain  a  vantage- 
ground  from  which  she  could  dictate  terms  to  the  United 
States.  The  fortune  of  war,  however,  went  against  her 
in  the  bloodiest  battle  of  the  time.  Peace  was  already 
made  when  it  was  fought,  so  making  the  effort  as  useless 
as  it  was  costl}'  and  heroic. 


III. 

THE    OREGON    TRAIL. 


THE   TRAPPER,  THE    BACKWOODSMAN,  AND  THE 

EMIGRANT. 

TpVER  since  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  the 
-^  head  waters  of  the  jMissunri  liad  been  frequented 
by  hunters,  trappers,  and  traders.  These  men  threaded 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  wilderness  in  i)ursuit  of  a 
livelihood,  and,  rude  geographers  as  they  were,  the  re- 
motest mountain  solitudes  were  fast  yielding  up  to  them 
the  secrets  they  had  lield  shice  the  creation  of  the 
world. 

Let  us  begin  with  a  portrait  of  the  trapper  as  drawn 
from  life  b}'  Mr.  Irving :  — 

"When  the  trade  in  furs  was  chiefly  pursued  about  the  lakes 
and  rivers,  the  expeditions  were  carried  on  in  bateaux  and  canoes. 
The  voyageuvs  or  boatmen  were  tlie  rank  and  fihi  in  the  service  of 
the  trader,  and  even  the  hardy  men  of  the  North  were  fain  to  be 
paddled  from  point  to  point  of  their  migrations. 

"A  totally  different  class  has  now  sprung  up,  —  the  '  mountani- 
eers,'  the  traders  and  trappers  that  scale  the  vast  mountain  chains, 
and  pursue  tlieir  hazardous  vocations  amidst  their  wild  recesses. 
They  move  from  place  to  place  on  horseback.  The  equestrian 
exercises,  therefore,  in  which  they  are  engaged,  the  nature  of  t'«e 
countries  tliey  traverse,  vast  plains  and  mountains,  seem  to  make 
them  physically  and  mentally  a  more  lively  race  than  the  fur- 
traders  and  trappers  of  fornjer  days.     A  man  who  bestrides  a  hor.se 

310 


216      TRAl'PER,    BACKWOODSMAX,    AND    EMIGRANT. 

must  be  essentially  different  from  a  man  who  cowers  in  a  canoe. 
We  find  them,  accordinglj',  hardy,  lithe,  vigorous  and  active; 
extravagant  in  word,  in  thought,  and  deed;  heedless  of  hardship, 
daring  of  danger,  prodigal  of  the  present,  and  thoughtless  of  tlie 
future. 

"The  American  trapper  stands  by  himself,  and  is  j^eerless  for 
the  .service  of  the  wilderness.  Drop  him  in  the  midst  of  the  prairie, 
or  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains,  and  he  is  never  at  a  loss.  He 
notices  every  landnvark,  can  retrace  his  route  through  the  most 
monotonous  plains  or  the  most  perplexed  labyrinths  of  the  moun- 
tains. No  danger  nor  difficulty  can  appal  him,  and  he  scorns  to 
complain  under  any  privation." 


Beliind  the  trapper,  though  it  might  be  at  a  great 
distance,  came  the  backwoodsman.  This  man  was  a 
product  of  American  growth,  of  continued  expansion  of 
territory,  but  never  the  voluntary  agent  of  civilization. 
He  was  more  like  the  foam  blown  from  the  crest  of  its 
ever-advancing  wave. 

The  true  backwoodsman  was  one,  who,  like  Daniel 
Boone,  fled  at  the  approach  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was 
a  recluse  from  choice.  He  has  always  hung  on  to  the 
skirts  of  civilization,  though  he  scorned  to  become 
part  of  it,  or  profit  by  its  advantages  or  comforts. 

This  man  made  a  little  clearing,  built  himself  a  rudf 
cabin  of  logs,  and  lived  by  hunting.  When  he  first 
heard  of  a  new  purchase  he  hastened  to  it,  but  as  soon 
as  another  was  made  he  shoiddered  his  rifle  and  hi> 
pack,  and  without  regret  turned  his  back  upon  the 
home  he  had  scarcely  made  habitable  when  this  new  flt 
(»f  restlessness  sent  him  forth  in  search  of  another.  In 
thi'3  manner,  his  lonely  clearing  made  smooth  the  way 
for  the  coming  settler.  Thus  the  backwo<tdsman's  lilV 
was  passed  far  from  the  haunts  of  men.  Free  from  all 
desire  to  better  his  condition  in  any  ennobling  sensr. 


TRAPPER,    BACKWOODSMAN,    AND   EMIGRANT.      217 


lie  had  no  higher  as[)iration  than  to  live  apart,  no 
tliought  of  becoming  an  instrumentality  in  the  hand 
of  progress.  In  iiis  haljits  and  way  of  lite  he  was 
iimrelike  an  Indian  than  a  civilized  heiiig,  for  the  only 
xhool  he  had  been  educated  in  was  nature's,  and  his 
tastes  or  instincts  led  him  rather  downward  than  up- 
ward in  the  scale  of  human  effort. 

Helihid  the    backwoodsman,  >   - 

like    the    vanguard   of   an 
army  taking  the  field. 
came  the  emigrant 
The     tread     of    ^  - 
his     oxen, 
and  print  of    '    ,[^ 
his     wagon-  £ 
wheels,    fol- 
lowed close 
ill  the  blazed 
footpath    of 
the    depart- 
ing pioneer. 
On    foot  he 
trudged     at 

tlic  head  of  his  worldly  possessions,  as  light  of  heart  as 
the  birds  singing  in  the  forest  around  him.  In  the 
wagon  his  household  utensils  would  be  stowed  away, 
with  wile  and  little  ones,  while  his  bronzed  and  bare- 
tooted  i)oys,  on  foot  and  in  homespun,  drove  the  cows 
and  hogs  along  the  road  behind  it.  At  nightl'all  the 
wagon  would  be  drawn  up  by  the  side  of  some  limpid 
l)rook,  the  animals  turned  loose  to  crop  the  tender 
grass,  while  with  an  armful  of  fagots,  gathered  close  at 
hand,   the   goodwife  was  soon   busy   cooking  a  frugal 


AN    EMIOUANT's   CAMl'. 


218      TRAPPER,    BACKWOODSI.IAX,    AND    EMIGRANT. 

supper  of  bacon  and  potatoes,  over  the  embers  of  their 
eami>fire.  In  tliis  way  the  emigrant  sometimes  trav- 
elled week  after  week,  and  montli  after  month,  before 
finding  a  place  of  abode  to  suit  him. 

This  nian  had  come  to  stay.  When  he  had  found  a. 
situation  to  his  mind,  he  set  about  felling  trees  for  his 
cabin.  On  the  Missouri,  where  the  first  settlers  chiefly 
came  from  Tennessee  and  Kentuck}',  this  dwelling  was 
usually  two  houses,  built  a  little  apart  from  each  other, 
each  containing  but  one  room,  and  joined  together  only 
by  the  roof,  so  leaving  an  opening  in  the  centre,  where 
the  family  usually  sat  in  the  heat  of  the  day.  The 
chimneys  were  built  of  sticks,  plastered  with  clay,  and 
stood  at  the  outside  of  the  building,  as  the  fashion  is 
in  the  Southern  States.  There  was  little  difference  be- 
tween the  dwellings  of  rich  and  poor.  In  these  humble 
abodes  the  first  generation  grew  up  to  man's  estate  to 
find  themselves  to-day  the  founders  of  an  empire. 

Unlike  the  backwoodsman,  the  settler  had  come  to 
better  his  condition,  —  to  grow  up  with  the  country, 
not  abandon  it  with  t)ie  first  token  of  progress.  Here 
he  lived  content.  He  broke  up  his  forty  acres  of 
prairie  land,  fenced  and  planted  it,  and  from  its  fertility 
soon  reaped  an  abundant  harvest  of  corn  and  potatoes. 
wliicli  with  his  swine  and  poultry,  furnished  more  than 
food  enough  for  his  wants.  Though  the  comforts  of  lite 
were  scarcely  attainable  in  a  wilderness,  he  had  the 
necessaries,  and  could  say,  with  our  gracious  poet,  to 
tlie  dweller  in  cities,  — 


"  IIow  canst  tliou  walk  in  these  streets,  who  hast  trod  the  green  turf 

of  the  prairies  ? 
IIow  canst  thou  breathe  in  this  air,  who  hast  breathed  the  sweet  aii" 

of  the  mountains?" 


LONG  EXPLORES  THK  PLATTE  VALLEV. 


219 


of  their 
BS  trav- 
,  before 

found  ii 
J  for  bis 
^  cliiellv 
ling  was 
h  other, 
lier  only 
Q.  where 
y.  The 
lay,  and 
shion  is 
enee  be- 
hiunble 
estate  to 
e. 

come  to 

country, 

Here 

xcres  of 

fertility 

)otatoes. 

ore  than 

s  of  life 

bad  the 

poet,  to 


Treen  turf 
sweet  ail' 


LONG   EXPLORES  THE   PLATTE   VALLEY. 

From  the  summit  of  J*ike's  l*eak,  Tike,  the  explorer, 
had  looked  down  upon  regions  watered  by  four  great 
rivers,  —  the  Platte,^  Arkansas,  Kio  (irande  and  Colo- 
lado.  Into  those  dark  gorges  he  had  recklessly  plunged. 
l)ut  he  had  scarcely  done  more  than  confirm  the  position 
of  the  great  landmark,  which  nature  has  placed  at  the 
bead  of  these  great  rivers. 

War  with  England  had  j)ut  a  stop  to  exploration  for 
a  time,  but  with  peace  it  was  determined  to  know  if  the 
Platte  would  not  afford  a  better  r(jute  than  the  round- 
about one  Lewis  and  Clarke  had  followed  to  the  Pacific. 
It  was  thought  depressions  might  exist  where  this  river 
issued  from  the  mountains,  so  giving  access  to  the  coun- 
try on  the  other  side,  by  a  way  less  formidable  to  the 
traveller  than  had  yet  been  found. 

With  this  object  in  view,  ]\Ia jor  Long  ^  was  sent  to 
the  Missouri  in  1819  bv  President  Monroe.  As  he  was 
a  man  of  scientific  attainments,  a  more  thorough  and 
critical  report  was  expected  from  him  than  his  prede- 
cessors had  so  far  furnished. 

Lono-'s  iournev  marks  a  distinct  era  in  the  wavs 
of  travel;  for  while  Pike  had  used  row-boats,  Long 
ascended  the  Missouri  in  a  steamboat  Imilt  for  the 
l)urpose  at  Pittsburg,  and  named  the  ''  Western  En- 
gineer." In  this  vessel  he  made  the  voyage  to  Council 
Bluffs. 

In  going  up  the  Missouri,  Long  found  the  most  pop- 
ulous settlements  growing  up  in  the  neighborhood  of 
St.  Charles,  in  what  is  now  Callaway  County,  and  in 
that    part   lying    between    the    Osage    and    Chariton. 


220  LONG   EXPLORES   THE   PLATTE   VALLEY. 


MAI'   SUOWINU   LUMU'tt   UXfLUliATlUNH. 


LONG  EXPLORES  THE  TLATTE  VALLEY. 


O 


21 


Above  the  Cluiiiton  only  a  horse-jjath,  called  a  trace, 
led  northward  to  Council  Bliitts. 

In  all  these  primitive  settlements  superior  wealth 
would  be  indicated  b}-  the  number  and  size  of  the  corn- 
cribs,  smoke-houses,  etc.,  but  nothhig  resembling  the 
harn  found  on  every  farm  in  the  Northern  States  entered 
into  the  make-up  of  these  frontier  homesteads. 

After  spending  the  winter  in  camp  near  Council 
liluffs.  Long  i)assed  on  his  way  into  the  Platte,  to  the 
village  of  the  Otoe  nation,  situated  about  forty  miles 
above  the  confluence  of  the  Platte  with  the  Missouri, 
(roing  thence  he  entered  the  Pawnee  country,  finding 
there  a  more  friendly  welcome  than  Pike  had  met  with, 
but,  like  him,  getting  an  impression  of  savage  chivalry 
and  independence,  the  like  of  which  he  had  found  no- 
where else.  The  braves  of  this  nation  hunq;  out  their 
war-shields  in  the  village  streets,  as  the  cavaliers  of  old 
were   accustomed   to  dis-  _=_.!;. 

))lay  theirs  before  their 
tents,  so  that  every  passer- 
by might  know  who  the 
occupant  was  by  his  de- 
vice. 

Long's     party     turned 
<lown  the  South  Fork  of 
the   Platte,   and    reached 
the  mountains  in  July,  1820,  after  making  a  journey 
of  nearly  a  thousand  miles  since  leaving  the  Missouri. 

In  one  place  this  traveller  has  noted  down  how  they 
liad  passed  by  a  large  and  uncommonly  beautiful  vil- 
lage of  the  prairie  marmot,  covering  a  grassy  plain  f 
about  a  mile  sqiuire.  As  they  came  toward  it,  this  sjjot 
happened  to  be  covered  with  a  herd  of  some  thousands 


IMlAIKIK-nx;    VILLAGE. 


222 


I.ONG    EXri.OliES    TMK    I'LATTi:    VALLKV. 


of  bisons.  On  tlio  left  were  a  number  of  wild  horses, 
and  ininiediiitcly  in  frcuit  twenty  or  thirty  antelo2)es, 
and  about  half  as  many  deer.  As  it  was  near  sunset  the 
light  fell  obli([uely  upon  the  grass,  giving  an  additional 
brilliancy  to  its  dark  verdure.  The  little  inhabitants 
of  the  village  were  seen  running  playfully  about  in  all 
directions,  and  when  the  travellers  got  near  them,  they 
sat  erect  on  their  burrows,  and  gave  a  short,  sharp  bark 
of  alarm. 

A  scene  of  this  kind  comprised  most  of  what  was 
beautiful  and  interesting  to  the  passing  traveller  in  the 

.  .  '  wide  unvaried 
plains  of  the 
Missouri  and 
Arkansas. 

Before  leav- 
ing this  inter- 
esting region, 
Dr.  James,  the 
Ixitanist  and 
historian  o  f 
the  expedi- 
tion, ascended  the  high  mountain  now  known  as  Long's 
Peak  (July  13).  Turning  south.  Long's  party  soon 
struck  the  waters  of  the  Arkansas,  near  Pike's  Peak, 
from  whose  summits  tliey  saw  the  great  plain  they  had 
crossed,  ''  rising  as  it  receded  until  it  appeared  to  mingle 
with  the  sky." 

From  this  point,  the  explorers  descended  the  valleys 
of  the  Arkansas  and  its  largest  tributary,  the  Canadian, 
to  Fort  Smith,  and  from  thence  through  the  growing" 
settlements  of  the  territory,^  to  the  Mississippi,  visitincr^ 
by  the  way,  the  famous  Hot  Springs  of  the  Washita. 


UlliGlNU   IN    TIIK    UIVKR-UKU    FOU    WATliU. 


LONG   EXPLORES   THE   I'LATTE    VALLEY. 


223 


The  upper  waters  of  the  Arkansas  and  Phitte  were 
re[)orte(l  by  them  to  lie  in  sandy  wastes  unfit  for  occu- 
pation by  civilized  man.  Often  the  explorers  would 
have  to  dig  in  the  bed  of  the  river  to  get  water,  while 
the  arid  appearance  of  every  thing  around,  caused  by  tlie 
disappearance  of  the  rivers'*  beneath  their  own  sands, 
I  he  want  of  wood  and  al)sence  of  game,  stam])ed  the 
whole  region  ns  one  on  which  nature  had  set  the  seal 
of  perpetual  barrenness  and  desolation. 

The  sum  of  these  discoveries  had  traced  out,  as  it 
were,  the  larger  veins  through  which  emigration,  the 
life-blood  of  the  country,  was  ultimately  to  flow. 


'  The  Platte  was  called  Nebraska 
liy  the  Otoen,  wheti'-o  comes  the  name  of 
tlic  State  in  which  it  chiefly  lies.  Some 
iitUhorities  mal<e  the  Indian  word  mean 
the  same  thing  as  the  French,  or  flat  and 
shallow,  which  describes  it  well. 

*  Major  Stephen  IIahriman 
LoNo  liiid  been  af<sistant  professor  of 
mathematics  at  West  Point.  He  after- 
wards (1823-24)  explored  the  Upper  Mis- 
Hissippi.  Journal  of  the  first  expedition 
published  in  1823,  of  the  second  1824. 

3  Arkansas  Territory  was 
formed  In  1819,  capital  Little  Rock, 
then  a  village  built  on  a  bluff  near  the 
beginning  of  the  hilly  region.  The  name 
comes  from  a  rock  in  the  river  exposed 
;it  low  water.  Fort  Smith  was  a  new 
military  post.  Other  settlements  were 
iMitcred  along  the  Arkansas  from  the 
White  Itiver  Cut-off  to  Belle  Point,  and 


on  Red  River  as  far  as  the  IClameslio. 
Thongh  numerous.  Long  says  all  were 
small.  Besides  these,  the  ('herokees 
were  also  forming  settlements  on  the 
Arkansas  about  Cadron,  which  Long 
often  found  superior,  in  respect  of  the 
comforts  of  life,  to  those  of  the  whites. 
These  people  were  the  vanguard  of  their 
nation,  to  which  Government  had  ceded 
lands  in  Arkansas  Territory,  and  was  re- 
moving from  Georgia  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi. They  owned  black  slaves,  the 
same  as  the  whites.  They  raised  cou- 
eiderable  cotton,  which  they  wove  Into 
cloth  for  their  own  use. 

*   DiSArPEARANCE  OF  THE   RiVERS. 

Long's  party  travelled  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  along  the  dry  bed  of  the 
Arkansas  without  once  seeing  water. 
Of  course  they  hastened  on  through  this 
desert  with  all  speed. 


MISSOURI,  AND  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1821. 

Far  back,  when  the  original  States  were  yet  colonies, 
and  while  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  solemnly 
deliberating  how  to  deliver  themselves  from  oppression, 


224       MISRori!!,    AND   THE    COMPROMISE   OF    1S21. 


a  letter  was  read  to  the  hody  to  whom  this  grave  ques- 
tion had  been  committed,  asking  it  to  eonsiikn*  the  state 
of  the  negro  shives  in  tiie  i)rovinee. 

These  men  liad  just  said  they  were  called  rebels  be- 
cause they  would  not  be  slaves.  The  dilenuna  was  thus 
presented  to  them,  either  to  make  good  their  declara- 
tion, or  limit  its  application  to  themselves.  After  some 
debate  the  matter  was  drop[)ed,  but  the  plea  for  a  prin- 
ciple had  been  uttered,  the  appeal  to  men's  consciences 
taken,  and  as  some  secret  cause,  working  beneath  the 
waters,  gives  notice  of  the  agitation  below  by  sending 
up  bubbles  to  the  surface,  so  this  question  of  slavery 
continued  at  intervals  to  prick  the  conscience  of  the 
people,  and  confront  them  at  every  turn  with  its 
warning. 

The  North  had  got  rid  of  slavery.  It  had  done  more. 
Its  voice  had  excluded  slavery  from  the  great  North- 
West.  But  the  South  owed  its  growth  to  slave  labor, 
and  wherever  her  people  went  to  found  new  States  they 
carried  their  slaves  with  them.  It  was  inevitable,  that, 
whenever  free  and  slave  labor  should  meet  on  the  same 
ground,  a  conflict  must  arise  between  them,  though 
statesmen  were  anxious  to  avert  the  coming  on  of  strife 
as  long  as  possible. 

It  is  hard  to  stay  the  march  of  events,  or  confute  the 
logic  of  time.  Even  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  ol" 
the  Union,  men  had  foreseen  the  coming  storm,  with 
foreboding,  yet  these  men  were  no  wiser  than  the  Massa- 
chusetts men  of  1774;  for  at  the  time  of  the  Union 
slavery  might  have  been  so  restricted  that  it  would 
eventually  have  died  out  in  the  land,  or  a  way  provided 
for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  blacks.  Such  ste])s 
were  indeed  talked  of,  but  not  consummated.     So  the 


MISSOURI,    AND   THE   COMT'UOMISK   OF    1«21,       225 


nation  was  allowed  to  drift  on,  and  tin;  two  opposing 
systems  were  left  to  work  ont  their  own  resnlts. 

In  1819  Missouri  asked  for  admission  into  the  Union. 
Her  doing  so,  with  a  constitution  recognizing  slavery,' 
proved  a  rock  of  danger  to  the  Republic,  the  wisest 
statesmen  found  it  hard  to  steer  clear  of.  It  provoked 
violent  oi)position  at  the  North,  and  e(|ually  vehement 
support  in  the  South.  Under  French  rule  the  people 
of  the  nascent  State  held  slaves.  Those  who  had  since 
come  in  were  mostly  from  slaveholding  States,  and 
wanted  to  have  slavery  recognized  as  part  of  their 
social  and  political  system. 

They  demanded  this,  not  as  a  privilege,  but  as  a  right 
guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Constitution  itself,  in  which 
proj:)erty  in  slaves  was  distinctly  recognized.  So  they 
stood  firm  for  what  they  considered  their  rights,  defend- 
ing slavery  from  the  charge  of  immorality,  or  inhumanity 
of  man  to  man,  as  men  would  the  most  righteous  cause. 

The  North  contended,  broadlj^,  that  slavery  was  a 
crime,  discountenanced  by  Christian  peojjle  and  enlight- 
ened thought  everywhere,  of  which  the  nation  should 
purge  itself.  It  was  said  that  the  idea  of  a  nation  being 
free,  when  it  countenanced  holding  men  in  bondage, 
was  a  mockery  of  freedom.  Many  construed  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787  to  have  forbidden,  if  not  in  its  letter,  at 
least  in  spirit,  the  formation  of  slave  States  out  of  newly 
acquired  territory.  But  these  men  did  not  propose  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  alread}^ 
existed. 

Around  these  two  differing  ideas  the  men  of  the  North 
and  South  clustered  themselves.  Underlying  all,  and 
governing  all,  was  the  conviction  that  a  check  to  the 
extension  of  slavery  meant  a  check  to   the   political 


226       MISSOUUI,    AND  THE   COMIMIOMISK   OF    1821. 


power  of  the  South  itself.  This  view  made  tlie  South 
a  unit,  while  in  the  North  puhlie  sentiment  was  divided, 
for  many  there  deprecated  agitation  of  the  question,  as 
the  entering  wedge  which  should  split  the  Kepuhlie 
asunder. 

When,  therefore,  Congress  took  up  the  bill  for  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  the  opponents  of  slavery  met  it 
with  the  condition  that  no  slaves  should  afterward  be 
brought  into  the  new  State,  while  all  children,  born 
in  it  subsequent  to  its  admission,  should  be  free  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years.  In  time  this  condition  would 
have  made  Missouri  a  free  State. 

The  matter  was  hotly  debated.  Of  the  twenty-two 
States  then  constituting  the  Union,  ten  were  slave 
States.  Two  ominous  phrases  began  to  be  lieard.  One 
was  "  State  rights,"  the  other  "  Balance  of  power."  In 
the  violence  of  party  strife,  i)atrioti3m  was  lost  sight  of. 

The  House  of  Rei)resentatives  refused  to  admit  Mis- 
souri without  the  condition;  the  Senate  refused  to  do 
so  with  it.     So  Missouri  was  not  admitted  at  this  time. 

With  the  two  houses  thus  divided,  it  was  apparent 
that  no  new  State  could  be  admitted,  since  the  Southern 
party,  having  control  of  the  Senate,  would  not  vote  to 
admit  a  free  State  so  long  as  Missouri  was  kept  out, 
and  Maine  was  then  ready  to  come  in  as  a  free  State. 

As  neither  party  would  yield,  the  more  moderate,  or 
timid,  men  of  each  tried  to  find  some  intermediate 
ground  where  the  factions  could  come  together,  each 
giving  up  something  tor  the  sake  of  restoring  harmony 
to  the  country.  Finally  a  settlement  was  reached. 
Maine  came  in  a  free  State.  Missouri  was  admitted 
with  slavery,  but  with  the  restriction  attached  that  her 
southern  boundary  should  thenceforward  be  the  limit 


MISSOIJIH,    ANl>   THK   (.'OMl'liOMlSK   OF    l«_'l, 


.).)7 


north  of  wliicli  no  new  sliivo  States  should  l)e  formed. 
Thus  tlie  line  between  free(h)ni  and  shivery  was  first 
strictly  drawn  on  the  parallel  of  30°  30',  hut  wilh  a 
slave  State  ahove  it.  The  first  battle  between  the  two 
warring  systems  iiad  been  fought,  and  slavery  had  won. 
The  North  had  got  a  line,  but  the  South  had  won 
a  ottite» 


ity-two 
?  slave 
.     One 

"  T 

r.       In 
ight  of. 
it  Mis- 
to  do 
time. 
)arent 
uthern 
ote  to 
it  out, 
ate. 
ite,  or 
ediate 
each 
rmony 
ached, 
mitted 
at  her 
limit 


ARKANSAS  ADMITTED  1836. 

Arkansas  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1836,  as 
a  slave  State,  retaining  the  name  it  had  been  given 
as  a  Territory,  when  formed  from  the  Louisiana  }»ur- 
chase,  —  a  name  originating  with  the  once  powerful 
nation  Manpiette  found  seated  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi.  Thus  three  slave  States  had  been  made 
out  of  French  Louisiana. 


THOMAS  H.   BENTON'S   IDEA. 

*'  There  Is  the  East !    There  lies  the  road  to  India." 

Lawyer,  soldier  and  politician,  but  not  yet  a  states- 
man, Thomas  H.  Benton  went  from  Tennessee  to 
Missouri  after  the  war  with  England  was  over.  Though 
St.  Louis  was  yet  only  a  large  village,  it  was  the 
focus  of  the  activities  of  the  Great  West.  Mr.  Henton 
saw  it  was  the  place  for  a  rising  man  to  grow  up  in, 
and  accordingly  he  settled  there. 

In  St.  Louis  Mr.  Benton  found  an  aristocracy  of  fur- 
traders,  whose  attachment  for  their  own  usages  and  old 
form  of  government  bound  them  together.  They  kept 
their  own  language  ^nd  manner*     With  many  it  was 


228 


THOMAS    If.    BENTON  S    IDEA. 


ji  point  of  lienor  never  to  learn  English  at  all.  In  all 
things  they  were  as  distinctively  French  as  the  French 
people  of  Canada  are  to-day.  Thus  this  scion  of  refine- 
ment had  heen  grafted  on  a  rude  frontier  life,  hut 
would  not  assimilate  with  the  coarser  elements  thrown 
upon  it  b}'  emigration  from  the  States. 

By  the  side  of  this  middle-class  (^bourr/coh')  aristocracy 
stood  the  ('atholic  clergy,  with  its  traditions  of  the  old 
r^l/lme  in  Canada,  its  proud  record  of  discovery  and 
missionary  work  among  the  barbarians  of  these  Western 
wilds,  whose  every  stream  and  fountain  had  its  story 
of  zeal  and  heroism  to  tell. 

This  was  society  at  the  core.  The  clergy  was  its  rock 
of  support.  Bo3's  were  taught  in  the  parish  school,  and 
girls  in  a  nunnery.  So  education  was  as  much  in  the 
keeping  of  the  Church  as  religion  itself.  Nations  may 
change,  but  the  Roman  Church  never  abandons  its 
people  or  its  objects. 

Around  this  foundation  was  grouped  the  community 
of  French  Creoles,  whom  the  great  fur  companies  em- 
ployed and  who  were  their  dependants.  And  around 
them  clustered  again  an  increasing  population  of  Ameri- 
can adventurers,  coming  mostly  from  the  Southern 
States  in  search  of  a  living,  for  whom  St.  Louis  was 
the  magnet  which  attracts  to  itself  the  scattered  atoms 
of  society  far  and  near. 

Outside  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri  owed  her  rapid  growth 
to  the  in-coming  of  actual  settlers.  Li  1816  oidy  thirty 
families  were  found  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Missouri, 
above  Callaway  County.  In  three  years  the  number 
had  increased  to  eight  hundred  families.  Here  was 
the  real  bone  and  sinew  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Benton  found 'the  American  Fur-Trading  Com- 


THOMAS    H.    HENTON's   IDEA. 


229 


In  all 
^^reiicli 
re  fi  ne- 
'e, l)ut 
hrown 

ocracy 
he  old 
ly  and 
Western 
3  story 

ts  rock 
lol,  and 
in  the 
lis  may 
pns   its 

niunity 
ies  em- 
around 
Ameri- 
lUthern 
lis  was 
I  atoms 

o'vowth 
y  thirty 
issouri, 
lumber 
»re  was 


y 


Com- 


pany sending  fortli  its  yearly  caravans  over  the  great 
plains  to  the  mountains,  and  from  the  mountains, 
through  passes  known  only  to  the  Indians  and  fur- 
traders,  into  Sonora,  New  Mexico  and  Oregon.  Since 
the  way  was  beset  by  hostile  Indians,  these  caravans 
went  armed  to  the  teeth.  The  same  Indians  miolit 
light  them  one  day  and  trade  the  next.  In  time,  the 
passing  to  and  fro  of  these  traders  had 
marked  out  well-beaten  paths  up  the 
Arkunsas  and  the  Platte,  which  pres- 
ently came  to  ])e  known  on  the  fron- 
tier as  the  Santa  ¥6  Trail  and  Oregon 
Trail.i 

At  b;)ttom  the  St.  Louis  fur-traders 
were  not  UK^re  friendly  to  colonization 
than  the  English  fur-traders,  but  they 
were  quite  as  eager  to  push  their  l)usi- 
ness  into  Oregon,  conceiving  they  had 
the  best  right  there,  as  the  English 
companies  were  to  keep  them  out  of 
it  so  that  they  themselves  might  reap 
all  the  profit ;  and  so  there  was  rivalry 
and  ill  l)lood  between  them. 

Mr.  Benton  was  energetic,  ambitious 
and  self-reliant,  qualities  which  soon  identified  him  with 
the  thought  and  nterests  of  the  people  amf)ng  whom 
he  had  cast  in  his  lot  in  life.  Thoroughly  Southern  in 
his  feelings,  lie  had  borne  an  active  part  in  making 
Missouri  a  slave  State,  and  when  that  result  was  accom- 
plished the  people  sent  him  to  the  United  States  Senate 
as  a  reward  for  his  zeal  in  their  behalf. 

When  the  war  with  England  was  over,  our  Govern- 
ment wished  to  have  the  boundary  between  our  own 


STATUE   OF  BENTON. 


230 


TUDMAs  H.  Benton's  idka. 


and  the  Britisli  possessions  defined  and  settled.  Tliough 
proposed  to  be  run  on  the  forty-nintli  parallel  it  had 
n«ver  been  done,  and  in  buying  Louisiaiui  we  iidierited 
a  dispute  which,  so  long  as  that  vast  region  was  unex- 
plored and  unknown,  had  slept,  but  was  now  become  a 
source  of  irritation  and  danger  between  England  and 
the  United  States.  The  Columbia  River  and  its  basin  ^ 
were  the  bone  of  contention.  Both  wanted  them. 
Neither  would  give  them  up.  Since  Astoria^  had  been 
sold,  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  North-west  Companies  had 
held  uninterrupted  possession  of  the  whole  country,  to 
the  exclusion  of  our  own  ships  and  traders,  whose 
interests  liad  suffered  in  consequence ;  but  as  England 
would  not  yield  her  pretensions  peaceably,  the  people 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  were  unwilling  to  go  to  war 
about  a  region  no  remote,  the  more  so  because  they 
were  just  recovering  from  the  effects  of  the  one  lately 
ended,  and  felt  that  they  would  be  the  greatest  sufferers 
if  war  again  broke  out  between  the  two  nations. 

So  the  two  countries  compromised  their  differences 
by  agreeing  to  hold  Oregon  in  common,  first  for  ten 
years  (1818-1828),  and  afterward  from  year  to  year. 
All  this  time  England  was  growing  stronger  in  Oregon, 
and  the  Unite<l  States  losing  the  hold  her  citizens 
liad  first  obtained  there,  for  though  it  was  neutral 
ground  on  paper,  the  English  with  their  free  access 
by  land  and  sea  were  able  to  shut  out  our  traders,  and 
did  so. 

This  state  of  things  was  humiliating  to  the  West. 
It  was  as  though  the  nation  were  eating  hund)le-pie 
rather  thfin  offend  England.  Continual  agitatit>n  of 
the  question  served  to  keep  up  a  feverish  feeling  about 
Oregon,  but  since  Major  Long  had  said  it  was  of  no 


THOMAS    H.    RENTON  S    IDEA. 


231 


'liougli 


West. 
)k'-i)ie 
ion  of 
about 
of  no 


use  to  tliink  of  cultivating  the  land  between  the 
meridian  of  Council  lilufl's  and  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
it  seemed  settled  that  nobody  but  fur-traders  would 
want  to  cross  this  desert  while  so  much  fertile  land 
remained  vacant  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Val- 
leys. If  settlement  must  stop  at  the  edge  of  this 
desert,  then  the  idea  of  geographical  unity  vanished, 
and  Oregon  would,  in  truth,  be  worth  little  to  us. 
Mr.  Benton,  himself,  was  at  one  time  of  this  opinion. 

So  when  Mr.  Benton  wanted  the  Government  to  take 
Oregon  with  an  armed  force,  he  was  told  it  was  not 
worth  the  trouble,  for  Oregon  could  never  become  a 
State  if  we  did. 

There  was  another  element  to  the  dispute,  which 
found  much  favor  in  the  West.  This  was  Mr.  Monroe's 
declaration  that  no  European  power  would  be  allowed 
to  subdue  or  overturn  the  independent  governments 
of  our  continent.  This  was  a  notice  to  England  that 
she  could  not  have  Oregon.  It  has  since  been  known 
as  the  Monroe  Doctrine,**  and  so  JNIr.  Monroe  became 
the  author  of  a  national  i)olicy. 

Mr.  Benton  mastered  all  the  details  of  the  vexatious 
Oregon  question.  The  interests  of  his  constituents 
were  at  stake.  His  patriotism  was  aroused.  He  felt 
equal  disgust  with  the  artifices  by  which  England  kept 
us  out  of  Oregon,  as  with  the  cautious  spirit  of  the 
East,  which  counted  the  cost  of  every  thing  before- 
hand, less,  it  seemed  to  him,  in  the  spirit  of  statesman- 
ship, than  for  what  it  would  be  worth  at  the  present 
moment. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  New  Eng- 
land enterprise  had  first  made  known  the  resources  of 
our  possessions  on  the  Pacific. 


232 


THOMAS    II.    liENTON  S    IDEA. 


In  fine,  Mr.  Benton  made  himself  the  champion  of 
the  growing  West.  He  hud  alieady  become,  in  a  sense, 
the  trustee  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  pet  scheme  of  a  great 
overland  highway  to  India,  which,  indeed,  proved  too 
great  for  the  time  that  wise  man  lived  in,  but  only 
waited  for  the  peo[)le  to  grow  up  to  it.  Mr.  Benton 
knew  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  own  lips  what  results  had 
been  hoped  for,  but  not  realized,  —  how  the  best-laid 
})lans  had  been  thwarted,  or  suffered  to  sleep  the  sleep 
pf  oblivion,  —  and  the  Missouri  senator  had  gone  away 
from  his  memorable  interview  more  than  ever  impressed 
with  the  greatness  of  the  mission  he  was  henceforth  to 
take  upon  himself  as  Mr.  Jefferson's  disciple. 

Enghmd  managed,  in  one  or  another  way,  to  delay 
a  settlement  just  forty-nine  yeirs.  A  few  Americans 
had  gone  into  Oregon,  but  as  yet  they  were  only  a 
handful.  In  1832  Captain  Bonneville^  took  the  first 
wagon  train  across  the  Wind  River  chain  into  the 
Green  River  Valley,  thus  proving  the  mountains  were 
practicable  for  veh.icles.  The  same  year  Nathaniel  J. 
Wyeth*'  led  a  party  iil)  the  way  from  New  England  to 
Fort  Vancouver,  after  a  journey  lasting  seven  months, 
in  which  some  of  his  men  were  killed  by  the  Blackfeet. 
In  1834  and  1835  some  American  missionaries "  were 
sent  out  to  Oregon,  one  of  whom,  Marcus  Whitman, 
was  to  figure  largely  in  its  history.  In  the  following 
year  Dr.  Whitman  went  through  to  Fort  Walla  Walla 
with  a  wagon,  thus  doing  what  had  been  declared 
impossible.  Yet  up  to  the  close  of  1841  not  quite  a 
hundred  and  fiftv  Americans,  in  all,  had  settled  in 
Oregon,  though  the  Oregon  Trail  was  largely  shorn  of 
its  terrors  by  the  intre[)idity  of  these  real  pathfinders. 
For   his    part.   Dr.    Whitman   saw  clearly,  that,  since 


THOMAS    H.   BENTON  S   IDEA. 


233 


ion  of 
sense, 
<  great 
etl  too 
t  only 
3enton 
ts  had 
3st-laid 
e  sleep 
e  away 
_)ressed 
jrth  to 

)  delay 

erieans 

only  a 

le  first 

to  the 

Us  were 

niel  J. 

and  to 

lonths, 

ckfeet. 

were 

itman, 

lowing 

Walla 

'L'lared 

uite  a 

led  in 

orn  of 

inders. 

since 


diplomacy  was  purposely  hindering  it,  emigration  must 
step  in  and  settle  the  question  who  should  have  Oregon. 
iVnd  Dr.  Whitman  was  not  only  a  man  of  clear  sight, 
l)ut  of  action. 


'  Santa  Ffe  Trail  and  Oregon 
Trail.  Independence  was  long  the  far- 
thext  white  settlement  in  Missouri,  and 
ccjnsi'quently  became  the  starting  point. 
So  far  the  Misnouri  Uiver  conld  be  fol- 
lowed. See  maj).  Westporl,  and  linally 
Kaimas  City,  grew  from  this  canse.  As 
t'tltlements  extended  up  the  river,  the 
main  trails  were  struck  from  many 
points,  as  Fort  Leavenworth,  St.  Joseph, 
Council  Bluffs,  etc.,  -like  trunk  roads 
with  many  branche 

»  Tub    (lOLUMBIA    AND    ITS    BaSIN. 

I'jiglantI  cianned  that  Drake  and  Cook 
iiacl  til  i  discovered  and  Uiken  possession 
of  Oregon,  whi^h  then  included  the  pres- 
ent Oregon,  Idaho,  Washington  and  part 
of  Montana.  In  1071  '^aint  Lusson,  at 
Sault  Stc.  Marie,  had  taken  possession  of 
all  the  country  west  to  the  South  Sea 
for  France.  (See  prccetUng  chapters.) 
Whatever  rights  France  acquired  be- 
came ours  by  purchase  from  her.  But 
Spain  had  the  better  title  on  the  Pacilic. 
She,  however,  relniquished  to  us,  on  the 
cession  of  the  Floridas,  in  1819,  all  north 
of  42°,  the  present  north  line  of  Cali 
fornia.  We  thus  became  possessed  cf 
all  rights  either  powi.-r  had  laid  claim  to 
north  of  that  parallel.  The  north  bound- 
ary, between  I^uisiana  and  the  British 
rosscHsions,  was  suiiposed  to  be  fixed  by 


the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  (1713)  at  the  forty- 
ninth  degree. 

*  Astoria  was  restored  to  us  (ISl!?), 
after  much  wrangling,  but  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  established  Fort 
Vancouver,  ninety  miles  up  the  Colum- 
bia, so  cuUiugoff  Asioria  from  the  upper 
valleys.  It  was  burnt  to  the  ground  in 
ISJl,  except  a  few  huts. 

♦  TuE  Monroe  Doctrine.  "The 
American  Continents,  by  the  free  and 
independent  condition  they  have  assumed 
and  maintain,  are  not  to  be  considered 
as  subjects  for  colonization  by  European 
powers." 

"  Captain  Bonneville's  adven- 
tures are  related  by  Washington  Irving. 

"  Nathaniel  J.  Wyetii  established 
Fort  Hall  on  Lewis  Uiver,  in  what  is  now 
Idaho.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at 
once  set  up  a  rival  post  called  Kort  Boise 
below  it,  so  compelling  Wyeth  to  sell 
cut  to  it  or  oe  ruined  by  its  competition. 

'  These  Missionaries  were  Ilevs. 
Jafion  and  Daniel  Lee  sent  by  the  Meth- 
odist denomination,  and  Revs.  Samuel 
Parker  and  Marcus  Whitman  s.??n  by  the 
American  Board.  The  Melh<Hlist  mis- 
sion was  at  the  Dalles,  the  other  at 
Walla  Walla.  This  was  the  Hrst  intro- 
duction of  Trotostiint  missions  among 
the  Oregon  tribes. 


WITH  THE  VANCUARD  TO  OREGON. 

"  This  army  does  not  retreat ! " 

Emigration  was  to  be  our  army  of  occupation  in 
Oregon.  In  this  conviction  Mr.  Benton  was  looking 
about  him  for  the  means  to  set  it  in,  motion,  when  he 


234 


WITH  thp:  vanguard  to  ohegox. 


chanced  to  meet  Lieutenant  John  C.  Fremont,  of  the 
topographical  engineers,  who  had  just  returned  froia 
surveying  the  Ui>i)er  Mississippi,  with  Nicollet.^ 

Mr.  Benton  wanted  tiie  Oregon  route  surveyed  in 
aid  of  emigration  to  the  Lower  Columbia.  The  sub- 
ject led  to  an  intimacy  ^  ween  the  two  men,  in  the 
course  of  which  Fremont  fell  in  love  with  Mr.  Benton's 
daughter  Jessie,  whom  a  little  later  lie  married,  so 
uniting  his  fortunes  with  the  distinguished  senator's 
family,  as  well  as  his  plans. 

It   resulted  in  sending  Fremont  (1842)  to  find  tut 
whether  the  South  Pass^  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  th'3 
usual  crossing-place,  would  best  acconunodate  the  com 
ing  emigration. 

This  was  the  very  first  step  taken  by  our  Govern- 
ment in  aitl  of  emigration  to  Oregon.  Hitherto  it  had 
rellected  the  prevailing  belief  in  the  worthlessness  of 
Oregon  for  any  such  purpose.  AVe  were,  at  this  time, 
thick  in  the  dispute  with  England  about  the  boundary, 
and  so  the  expedition  was  rather  assented  to,  in  defer- 
ence to  Western  men,  than  authorized  as  a  Government 
measure. 

St.  Louis  is  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  a  starting- 
point  for  the  mountains.  Already  this  had  gone  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  west.  Fremont's  journey  there- 
fore began  at  the  little  village  of  Kansas,^  now  a  city 
larger  than  any  then  existing  west  of  tlie  Alleghanies, 
but  then  only  a  landing  for  Chouteau's  trading-post, 
ten  miles  up  the  Kansas  River.  From  this  place,  early 
in  June,  Fremont's  party  set  out  for  the  mountains. 
Kit  Carson  of  Taos,  a  famous  hunter,  was  their  guide. 

For  most  of  the  way  Fremont's  wagons  only  followed 
in  the  track  of  those  that  had  gone  before  them,  some- 


WITH    THE  VANGUAUD   To   OUKGoN. 


235 


times  witli  guides,  but  oftener  witliout  tlieni.  Tlie  road 
w  as  plain,  and  led  over  ground  where  vehicles  j)ass  every- 
w  here  witli  ease,  except  wlieii  gullies  or  streams  cross 
their  path.  So  Fremont's  men  journeyed  on  (juite  at 
their  ease.  At  nightfall  the  wagons  were  drawn 
together  in  a  circle,  thus  forming  an  enclosed  and 
liarricaded  camp,  in  which  the  travellers  pitched  their 
tents. 

Fremont  went   up   the  Kansas  valley  as  far  as   the 
I5ig  Hlue,  crossing  thence  over  to  the  Platte,  which  was 
now    to   be    his     ??---. 
Uui(U^     for     the 
lest  of  his  jour- 
ney. 

Now  and  then 
Fremont  would 
come  across  the 
abandoned  camp 
of  some  Ore- 
'^(m  emigrants, 
who  thus  seemed  piloting  him  on,  instead  of  he  them. 

At  the  forks  of  the  Platte  the  i>arty  was  divided, 
Fremont  himself  going  down  the  South  Fork,  to  St. 
Vrain's  Fort,"*  while  the  rest  kept  on  up  the  North 
Fork,  to  Fort  Laramie,^  where  Fremont  presently 
joined  them  again. 

When  firewood  grew  scarce  the  men  would  have  to 
make  their  fires  of  dried  buffalo-tlung,  as  the  Arabs  of 
the  desert  do  with  that  of  the  camel. 

At  Laramie,  Fremont  learned  that  the  mountains 
l»eyond  swarmed  with  Indians,  who  were  out  on  the 
war-path,  and  had  declared  the  road  shut  to  the  whites. 
Hut  Fremont  went  on  to  the  South  Pass,  which  was 


FORT  LARAMIK. 


236 


WITH    THE    VAN(JIJAI{I>   TO   OltEGON. 


foiiiul  to  rise  by  so  gradual  an  ascent  that  the  explor- 
ing l>iuty  hardly  knew  when  they  had  reached  its 
snnnnit. 

In  the  valley  be^'ond  this  pass,  the  explorers  rested. 
Before  turning  buck,  Fremont  himself,  with  a  few 
others,  made  their  way  into  the  mountains  and  up  to 
the  summit  of  the  high  i)eak  now  known  by  his  name, 
which  rose,  the  monarch  of  all  in  this  region,  13,570 
feet  above  the  sea.  In  this  way  the  three  greatest 
landmarks  of  the  Rockies  make  memorable  the  names 
of  three  explorers,  Pike,  Long  and  Fremont. 

While  Fremont  did  little  that  had  not  been  done 
jdrcad}^,  his  careful  record  of  distances,  fords,  camping- 
l)laces  where  grass,  wood  and  water  could  be  had,  was 
just  what  outgoing  emigrants  needed  to  know,  and  so, 
immediately,  they  began  to  go  forward  with  confidence. 
It  was  besides  a  token  that  Government  had  taken 
hold  of  the  matter  at  last,  and  would,  it  was  thought, 
now  foster  and  protect  the  emigration. 

Fremont  said  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  perma- 
nent military  posts  at  Laramie,  St.  Vrain's  and  Bent's 
Fort,  to  keep  the  Indians  from  killing  our  peoi)le,  as 
they  passed  through  their  country.  Until  this  should 
be  done  the  road  could  not  be  called  safe.  But  lie  diil 
the  most  for  emigration  in  correcting  tlie  popular  error 
about  the  barrenness  of  the  great  plains,  to  which 
Major  Long  gave  currency,  and  w  hich  everybody  to  this 
time  had  believed.  He  showed  that  where  the  buffalo 
roamed  in  such  vast  herds,  and  found  food,  could  not  be 
a  desert,  for  the  wild  grass  they  lived  on  would  cer- 
tainly keep  the  emigrants'  cattle,  while  no  man  need 
starve  in  the  nddst  of  such  abundance  of  wild  game 
as  constantly  roved  these  plains  before  their  eyes.     It 


WITH    THK    VANGUAUI)   To   ()l{K(iON. 


2^7 


was  mucli  to  liave  all  these  things  set  down  in  an 
unlerly  manner  by  some  friendly  liand,  and  with  the 
seal  of  Government  authority.  Fremont  did  this  as  it 
had  not  been  done  before. 

Fremont's  first  expedition  met  with  such  favor  that 
lie  was  immediately  sent  on  ti  seeond  (l«4o),  and 
iiiiieh  more  important  one.  This  time  he  was  to  begin 
at  the  South  Pass,  and  go  through  the  Lower  Cohunbia 
country.  He  was  well  on  his 
way  when  the  War  Depart- 
ment suddenly  recalled 
liini  to  Washington, 
but  Mrs.  Fremont 
look  the  responsi 
bility  of  suppress- 
ing the  order 
until  the  ex- 
l)lorer  was  too 
far  off  for  it  to 
reach  him. 

At  the  mo- 
ment of  start- 
ing from  the 
Missouri,  Fremont  met  a  large  party  of  emigrants  who 
were  going  to  California  under  the  lead  of  J.  I>.  C'hilds. 
This  party  took  with  them  that  modern  civilizing  en- 
gine, a  saw-mill,  ready  to  be  put  up  on  reaching  the 
Sacramento.  As  Fremont  moved  west,  trains  of  wagons 
were  seldom  out  of  sight.  The  great  march  had  begun 
in  earnest. 

Fremont  decided  to  exi)lore  the  mountains  in  the 
ncigliborhood  of  St.  Vrain's  Fort  to  see  if  they  would 
afford  a  practicable  passage  on  u  more  direct  east-and- 


AMULE,   OU   SlUl'  ri.ANT   Of   TUK    ri.AlXM. 


238 


WITH    THK    VAN(aJAUI)   TO   oKKGOX. 


west  line  thiin  tlie  old  way  up  the  Platte.  He  therefore 
struck  into  them,  north  of  Long's  Peak,  and  by  foU(»w- 
ing  the  Caehe-iVla-Poudre*^  River  came  out  on  the 
other  side,  where  his  journey  of  the  previous  y(;ar  had 
ended.  From  here  he  passed  on  into  the  valley  of 
Hear  Uiver,  and  so  on  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake,"  which 
he  als»)  ex[)lored. 

From  Salt  Lake,  Fremont  went  north  to  the  Hudson's 
Pay  Company's  post  at  Fort  Hall,  striking  the  Oregon 
Trail  again  by  the  way.  The  explorers  divided  here, 
part  going  back  to  the  States  and  part  down  the 
river  with  Fremont.  Fort  15018(5*^  they  found  was  only 
an  ordinary  dwelling-house.  Going  on  they  next  came 
to  the  mission  Dr.  Whitman  had  founded  among  the 
Nez  Perces,  near  Walla  Walla.  It  then  consisted  of 
but  one  adobe  house,  though  more  were  going  u[) 
ar«»und  it.  Its  cornfields  and  potato-patches,  which 
Dr.  Whitman  had  cleared  and  planted,  were  a  pleasant 
sight  to  men  worn  down  with  travel  and  fasting,  but 
not  more  so  to  Fremont  than  the  little  colony  of  emi- 
grants now  collected  here  after  their  long  march  of 
two  thousand  miles,  —  men,  women  and  children,  —  all 
in  robust  iiealth,  and  all  regaling  themselves  with  Dr. 
Whitman's  potatoes. 

Fort  Walla  Walla  marks  an  important  strategic  point 
in  the  early  movement  of  emigration  to  Oregon.  Situ- 
ated only  nine  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  two 
great  branches  of  the  Columbia,  it  was  thus  also 
planted  at  the  meeting  of  two  great  trans-continental 
routes  of  travel,  one  coming  from  the  United  States  by 
way  of  the  South  Pass,  the  other  from  Hudson's  Bay 
by  way  of  Lake  Athabasca  and  the  mountain  passes 
near  it.     For  such  of  the  emigrants  as  chose  to  go  on 


WITH    THE    VANGUAUn   TO   OKliGOX. 


239 


l)y  water,  Walla  Walla  was  the  eixl  of  tlieir  loii^'  over- 
land jniirncy.  Fremont  found  a  lar^e  l)ody  of  emi- 
grants, under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Jesse  Applegate,  building 
Itateaux  here  to  go  <U)wn  tlie  river  in. 

Hut  the  liritish  trading-post  lay  on  a  sandy  plain, 
where  searce  a  blade  of  grass  or  a  shrub  grew.  Dr. 
Whitman  had  chosen  a  pleasant  and  fertile  nook,  not 
far  from  the  fort,  where  emigrants  might  recruit  them- 
selves among  friends;  for  at  the  fort  itself  every 
effort  was  made  to  turn  them  back  or  send  them  into 
California.  Thus  everywhere,  excej)t  at  the  missions, 
emigrants  found  this  Oregon  Trail  a  hard  road  to 
travel,  for  our  Government  left  them  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agents,  who  hindered  them 
in  every  way,  or  failing  to  stop  them,  charged  ex- 
orbitantly for  every  thing  furnished. 

Finding  emigration  would  increase  in  spite  of  then', 
this  company  chose  to  save  itself  by  bringing  in  British 
emigrants  from  the  Red  River  of  tlie  North.  It  meant 
to  occupy  the  best  lands,  as  it  had  tlie  best  trading 
sites.  The  first  colony  was  on  the  Ui)per  Colundjia 
wlien  Dr.  Whitman  heard  of  it.  If  Oregon  were  to  l)e 
saved  to  us,  there  was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  lie 
instantly  started  for  Washington  with  the  news  of  this 
threatened  invasion. 

Dr.  Whitman's  ride  to  St.  Louis,  by  way  of  Santa 
F6,  will  ever  be  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Oregon,  as 
well  for  its  perils  as  for  what  it  accomplished.  lie 
found  our  Government  had  just  signed  the  Ashburton 
Treaty,^  by  which  Oregon  was  still  left  out  in  the  cold, 
without  a  boundary  or  the  protection  of  our  laws  or  flag. 
His  great  energy,  however,  enabled  him  to  get  together 
on    the  frontier  an  emigrants'    train   of  two   hundred 


240 


WITH    THE    VANCJUAKL)   TO   OliFOON. 


wagons  with  wliicli,  as  tlio  leader  of  an  army,  ho 
started  haek  in  the  s[)rin<^.  It  was  these  people  \vhoiu 
Fremont  had  seen  setting  out,  had  traeked  a  thousand 
miles  on  their  way,  and  iinally  come  up  with  at  their 
journey's  end.  As  the  (Jovernment  would  not  lead,  it 
now  had  to  follow  the  people's  grand  march  for  the 
Paeifie. 

Witii  fresh  horses  Fremont  pushed  on  down  the 
left  hank  of  the  Cohunbia  to  the  Dalles,  Mount  Il.iod 
towering  in  the  distance.  Here  the  whole  river  rushes 
through  ji  long  and  narrow  trough  of  rock,  with  so 
swift  a  tide  that  in  the  season  of  high  water  boats  cjiii- 
not  stem  it. 

A  few  miles  below,  Fremont  emerged  from  the  sterile 
and  inhospitable  region  through  which  he  had  been 
travelling,  upon  a  green  si)ot  in  the  valley,  where, 
among  groves  of  noble  forest-trees,  the  Methodist  mis- 
sion had  reared  its  two  dwellings,  its  one  schoolhouse, 
and  its  barn,  cleared  ground  for  planting,  gathered  to 
it  a  colony  of  Indians  for  instruction  in  the  ways  and 
religion  of  the  whites,  and  so  dropped  in  the  wilder- 
ness the  seed  of  Christian  civilization. 

P^rom  the  Dalles,  Fremont  sailed  down  the  river  to 
Vancouver,  finding  here  still  more  emigrants,  most  of 
whom  were  waiting  to  cross  over  into  the  fertile 
Willamette  Valley,  which  was  then  their  land  of 
promise. 

At  this  point  Fremont's  journey  ended.  His  explora- 
tions had  now  connected  with  surveys  conducted  by 
Captain  Wilkes  from  the  Pacific  coast.  Fremont 
therefore  turned  homeward  again,  taking  with  him  the 
most  exact  knowledge  of  the  country  traversed,  so  far 
obtained. 


WITH    THK    VANOrAUI)   TO   OREGON. 


241 


"  J.  NiroLA8  NitoLLET  had  UrnlfH 
tiibliHheil  tho  HntirccM  of  the  MlMHixHippl. 
lie  hiid  ruluriiL-U  from  oxploriiiK  it  con 
hidtTuble  part  of  MIiiiiuhoU  uiid  Da 
koUk. 

»  The  South  Pass  cuU»  the  aoulh 
pikit  of  the  Wind  Iliver  chnin. 

s  Kansas   City  took  Uh  imine  thiin 
oikriy  from  itM  neighborhood  to  the  Kan 
Ml*  Uivvr  (though  in  MiD8oiirl}i  which 
liikH  led  many  to  HtippoHc  it  \«  In  KannaH. 

*  Ht.  Viiain'h  Four,  a  furtrading 
pottt,  in  commnnication  with  8antu  Fe 
liy  way  of  TikOH.  I'nder  the  monntJkiim, 
Hcventecn  milexeaHt  of  LongV  Teak. 

«  FoiiT  liARAMiB,  flrpt  called  Fort 
William  (Sublette),  built  by  Robert 
('ami)bell  about- 1835,  Hiiice  named  from 
the  Laramie  Fork,  near  which  it  HtandH. 
ItH  walls  were  ranges  of  adobe  houi*en,  in 
the  Hpanidh  style,  with  bastions  at  the 
corners.  The  house  tops  or  roof  formed 
a  ban(|uettc,  on  which,  again,  was  set  a 
row  of  pulinades. 

Bent's  Fobt,  on  the  Arkansas,  ee- 


tablUhed  by  Charlc*  Kent,  was  the  third 
of  tlieHc  remote  postH,  for  which  the 
above  description  will  sulllce. 

"  (.'aciie-a-i.a  roct)iiR.    French,  hid- 
ing-place for  the  powder. 

'  Halt  Lake  was  known  to  early 
Bpanish  explorers  (seep.  37);  had  been 
often  vlMiti'ii,  but  not  explored.  .\HhU'y 
of  Missouri,  who  led  a  party  of  trappers 
to  the  heads  of  the  Colorado  In  lv.^t, 
built  the  next  year  a  trading-houso  near 
•Salt  iiake  See  also  Monneville's  account. 
Fremont's  explorations  disclosed  the  ex 
islence  of  a  great  interior  biksin  iK'tween 
tiie  Rockies  and  Sierra  Nevada,  whose 
waters  full  into  Utah  and  Suit  Lakes  in- 
stead of  reaching  the  Columbia  or 
C'jlorado. 

"  FoBT    Boisfc.      French,    meaning 
woodtnl. 

<•  ASHBITRTON     TREATY    BCttlod    OUr 

north-eastern  lM)un(hkry  with  England, 
and  carried  thei>arallel  40*  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  but  not  beyond.  In  1H4tS  a 
second  treaty  carried  it  to  the  Paciiic. 


TEXAS  ADMITTED. 

Mexico  threw  off  her  allegiance  to  Spaui  in  1821. 
Not  till  then  did  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  abandon 
their  policy  of  exclnding  all  foreigners  from  tlieir  soil ; 
but  the  example  set  them  by  the  United  States,  witli 
tiie  feeling  born  of  freedom  from  the  Spanish  yoke, 
l)rought  about  a  change  of  policy  in  this  regard,  and 
Americans  were  invited  to  settle  in  Texas  on  the  most 
generous  terms.  No  stronger  instance  is  found  of  the 
influence  exerted  by  free  institutions  from  without  upon 
the  hereditary  prejudices  of  a  whole  people.  It  con- 
fessed a  failure  nobly. 

When  Texas  was  thus  thrown  open  to  emigration 
her   settlements   were    few   and    scattered.      Habitual 


242 


TEXAS    ADMITTED. 


timidity  or  indolence  had  restricted  them  to  the  neigh- 
bcji'hood  of  fortified  posts  or  missions.^  The  chief  ones 
were  San  Antonio,  (ioliad,  liefngio  and  Nacodoches, 
and  aronnd  these  small  parcels  of  land  had  been  brought 
under  cultivation.  Hut  the  missions  themselves,  which 
had  formed  t)ie  groundwork  of  Spanish  occupation, 
were  fallen  into  irremediable  decay.  The  Indians  who 
liad  been  gathered  into  them  by  the  monks  had  dwin- 


.-■'<^r?'T^ 


died  away  until  the  mis- 
sions were  mostlv  de- 
populated.  Here,  as  in 
California,  ex[)erience  had  shown  that  the  luitives  couM 
not  exist  under  the  shadow  of  the  whites.  Civilization 
wasted  them  away. 

To  induce  settlers  to  come  into  Texas,  they  were 
offered  exemption  from  all  taxes  for  the  space  of  ten 
years. 

Among  the  first  to  avail  themselves  of  these  offers 
was  Stephen  F.  Austin,  of  Durham,  Conn.  Actinjx 
under  a  grant  of  lands  made  by  the  Mexican  authorities 
to  his  father,  Austin  l)egan  a  settlement  on  the  Hrazos  in 


TEXAS    AD.MITTKIJ. 


243 


1821,  whicli  later  beccanie  tlio  capital  of  the  State,  of 
wliich  he  was  the  foremost  founder. 

Emigration  poured  in  from  tlie  Lower  Mississippi 
Valley,  —  from  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Mississippi, — 
and  even  the  older  States  contributed  to  swell  the  tide. 
Tiie  law  forbade  slavery,  but  many  brought  negroes  with 
them  and  held  them  in  spite  of  it.  Many  were  adven- 
turers who  held  law  in  little  estimation,  or  found  in 
Texas  a  convenient  asylum  from  the  jiursuit  of  tlieir 
creditors.  Others  were  poor  people  whom  tlie  liberal 
offers  of  the  Mexican  Government  lured  from  tlicir 
homes  in  the  hope  of  bettering  their  condition.  Though 
sound  at  the  heart,  in  no  long  time  Texas  had  won  for 
itself  an  unenviable  name  tliroughout  the  Union  as  the 
chosen  home  of  lawless  men,  through  its  worst  elements 
rising  to  the  top. 

Our  (iovernment  had  long  coveted  Texas,  and  had 
made  two  unsuccessful  attempts  to  buy  it  of  Mexico,  con- 
sidering it  as  an  integral  i>artof  Old  Louisiana,  to  which 
we  had  a  sort  of  right  by  tiie  prior  discovery  of  Lit  Salle. 

Texas,  which  the  Spaniards  had  weakly  settled  and 
ieel)ly  governed,  declared  herself  independent  of  Mexico 
in  1885.  When  this  revolt  took  place  there  were  more 
Americans  than  peoi)le  of  Spanish  blood  in  Texas,  so 
bringing  over  to  the  Texan  cause  the  warm  syn«i>athy 
and  active  aid  of  a  large  part  of  tlu;  American  i)eople. 

Th'j  conllict  was  short  and  bloody.  After  meeting 
reverses  at  Goliad  and  the  Alamo,''^  the  Texans  won 
their  independence  by  defeating  the  Mexican  aiiny  at 
San  Jacinto,^  in  183G.  General  Samui'l  Houston,  the 
Texan  leader,  was  subsetiuently  made  president  of  the 
Uepuolic  of  Texas,  which  then  set  up  for  itself  upon 
the  model  of  the  United  States. 


244 


TEXAS    ADMITTED. 


In  no  long  tinio  Texas  applied  for  admission  to  the 
Union.  Too  weak  to  maintain  herself  as  an  independ- 
ent power,  her  interests  were  now  at  one  with  the 
South.  Iler  soil,  elimate,  and  productions  were  much 
the  same.  Her  j)opulation  was  lan^ely  derived  from 
that  source,  and  owned  to  like  feelings  and  prejudices 


TUK    ALAMU. 


with  their  brethren  of  that  section.  The  South,  there- 
fore, favored  the  admission  of  Texas,  not  only  for  these 
general  reasons,  hut  because  it  woidd  add  a  slave  State 
to  the  Union,  as,  since  Missouri  and  Arkansas  had  come 
in,  there  was  no  more  territory,  except  Florida^  open  to 
blavery  under  the  interdicted  line  <»f  3(>°  30'. 

Fur  this  very  reason  the  growing  anti-slavery  seuti- 


TKXAS    AD.MITTKD. 


245 


ment  of  the  North  strongly  opjxised  the  admissiom  of 
Texas.  It  was  further  o]»pose<l  on  tlie  jifroun«l  that  as 
Mexico  liad  not  yet  acknttwkMlged  the  inde|)en<U*nee  of 
Texas,  so  unfriendly  an  aet  toward  Mexico  would  lead  to 
war.  Moreover,  Texas  was  of  sueh  vast  extent,  c<un- 
juired  with  other  States,  that  the  hill  for  its  admission 
allowed  the  making 
of  four  more  new 
States  out  of  it  so 
o[»ening  the  d(K>r  of 
the  I'nion  not  to 
«tne,  hut  several  slave 
States  in  the  future. 

liut  the  North  and 
South  did  nitt  sei)a- 
iat(!  themselves  into 
tw«i  distinct  political 
factions,  or  their  citi- 
zens stand  wholly  to- 
C^ether,  on  this  Texas 
ijuestion.  With  many 
it  was  simply  a  ques- 
tion of  national  p(dicy 
or  ex|>e<liencv.  It  was  cliami)ioned  hy  the  Democratic 
part  v,  which  helicvcd  in  the  *Mnanifest  destinv"  of  the 
rnioii  to  control  the  whole  continent,  while  the  Whig 
party  was  conservative,  and  its  oppositit)n  was  hased  on 
the  grounds  already  given,  which  many  thought  equiva- 
lent to  national  dishonor.  Southern  men  were  in  hotli 
jiarlies,  and  Northern  men  in  hoth.  Kach  j>arty  nomi- 
nated a  Southern  man  for  President  upon  this  issue. 
Tiiis  question  was  carried  to  the  people  in  the  next 
national  election   (1844),  when  Clay,  the  Whig  candi- 


»AMl  EL  UUOTON. 


246 


TKXAR    ADMITTKH. 


(late,  and  opponent  of  annexation,  was  defeated,  and 
Polk,*  the  Democratic  candidate  and  its  advocate, 
elected.  Tlie  Congress  therefore  admitted  Texas  to  the 
Union,  Dec.  29,  1845. 


'  Texas  Mismions  were  eHlablinhed 
by  FranciHcai)  nionkH  afi  followH :  In 
160U,  that  of  Sail  KruiiciHco  «>ii  the  l^avuea 
Uiver,  at  Kurt  St.  LouiM  (8ee"  I^nSalle'8 
i'olony");  St.  .lohn  the  Baptixt  waa 
founded  uii  the  Kio  li ramie,  ttame  year. 
Ill  1714,  thogcof  San  Bernard  and  Adaer*, 
tifUfii  niileA  went  of  Xatchitoehefl.  In 
1 7 1-'i,  MirtKiun  I>olorei*,  weHtof  the  Sabine ; 
one  near  Nacodoches,  and  another  near 
the  present  town  of  San  An^nsline.  The 
inii^iuii  and  furtreHH  of  San  Antonio  dc 
Valero  Wiut  soon  after  founded  near  the 
preiK'nt  city  of  San  Antonio.  In  1721, 
one  wai«  loealtnl  al  the  croHttinij  of  the 
Xt-chei*;  another  on  the  Bay  of  St. 
Bernard,  called  Our  Lady  of  Loretto; 
and  a  ihinl,  called  I^  Bahia  ^the  Bay), 
at  the  lower  croBi«in(;  of  River  San  An- 
tonio. In  1730,  the  Church  of  San  Fer- 
nando, San  Antonio,  wan  founded;  in 
17:il,  the  raiMion  of  La  ruriodinia  (\)n- 
ce|M*ii)ii,  near  the  Mtnie  |>laee.  All  therto 
luibbiuiu  were  Dvcularizcd  in  tue  latter 


part  of  thi  eighteenth  century.  —  linker, 

Tr-filS  Srritji-Bimk. 

*  'riiE  .\i.AMi>  (Spanixh  for  poplar- 
tree),  wat*  a  chapel  UHed  in  connection 
with  the  Mis«ion  Saii  Antonio  de  Valero. 
Here  one  hundred  and  forty-four  Texan 
revolutionists,  under  W.  Barrett  'rravi>, 
were  besieged  (18;5<))  by  8U{>erior  Mesi>.an 
foiTCH  under  Santa  Anna.  The  inxur- 
geiilH  held  out  ten  dayx,  when  the  Alamo 
wart  Htormed,  and  all  of  itn  brave  defend- 
ers put  to  death.  I  >avid  Crockett  of  'I'en- 
nesMee  was  among  the  slain.  The  event 
has  been  commemorated  by  a  Khaf  I  bearing 
the  legend:  "Thermopyliu  had  ils  tnes- 
seiiger  of  defeat,  the  .Maino  had  none." 

'  San  Jaiinto  isa  small  village  near 
Galveston  Bay.  The  decisive  battle  waa 
fought  April  21, 1836. 

♦  tlAMEs  K.  Poi.K,  of  Tennessee. 
Ills  nomination  w:is  the  tirst  |>ublic  news 
evtTsent  l>y  telegraph  in  the  United  i^Uites. 
Morse's  new  line  wait  just  coiiipleicd  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  Washiugtou. 


INTERLUDE. -NEW   POLITICAL  IDEAS. 

••  Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again."  —  Bryant. 

As  yet  any  direct  attack  upon  slavery  was  uni)op- 
ular  in  the  North.  Tlie  two  suitagonistic  ideas  of  limit- 
ing or  extending  it  were  now  running  a  neck-and-nock 
rjiee  for  controlling  power;  but  attachment  for  tlie 
Union  itself  was  stronger  at  the  North  than  at  the 
South,  whose  people  had  been  taught  to  consider  it  a 
compact  to  be  kept  only  during  the  pleasure  of  tlie  sev- 
eral States,  or  so  long  as  their  interests  were  promoted 


NKW    POLITICAL    IDEAS. 


247 


)(1,  and 
ivocate, 
5  to  the 

.  —  Bilker, 

for  popliir- 
coniH'ctioii 
1  de  Valero. 
Four  'IVxaii 
relt  Tnivi 
urMfskan 
The  iiiMiir- 
I  the  AIniuo 
nve  defend- 
iett  of  Ten- 
The  event 
lafl^eariiii; 
lad  iu  11108- 
ad  none." 
k'illai<e  noar 
;  battle  wuH 

TonncHSce. 
)ulilic  ncw« 
il^•dSliao9. 
npli'lfd  be- 
gtou. 


unpop- 
)i  limit- 
i(l-iiook 
for  the 
at  the 
ler  it  a 
the  sev- 
oinoted 


by  it.  Tliis  doctrine  was  never  tanght  in  the  North. 
The  j)revailing  sentiment  tliere  was  attachment  f«>r  the 
Union,  ""one  and  indivisible ;"  while  the  South,  under 
diflerent  teachings,  was  weighing  its  wortli  in  the  bal- 
ance with  slavery. 

One  new  and  potent  clement,  however,  liad  come  into 
the  controversy.  At  the  North  a  little  band  of  men 
jiledged  to  work  for  the  immediate  emancipation  of  the 
slave,  and  deeply  in  earnest,  had  begun  a  warfare  that 
ere  long  w.as  to  shake  the  Union  to  its  foundations. 
Though  few  in  innnbers,  they  were  both  liated  and 
feared.  At  the  North  they  were  called  fanatics,  at  the 
South  abolitionists.  At  the  North  they  were  mobbed, 
at  the  South  a  reward  offered  for  their  heads.  The 
North  apoh>gized  for  them,  the  South  demanded  they 
should  be  put  (h)wn.  But  though  they  were  thus  held 
up  to  public  detestation,  as  enemies  of  the  Union,  by 
both  sections,  these  men  felt  that  they  stood  for  a  great 
and  holy  j)rinciple,  which  surely  juust  triumph  in  the 
end.  It  made  them  strong.  It  made  them  respected. 
They  were  led  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison  of  Massa- 
chusetts, whose  name  is  now  spoken  in  the  land  with  as 
much  honor  as  it  once  was  with  bitter  scorn  and  hatred 

Slavery  was  to  be  openly  attacked  thrt)ugh  the  print 
ing-press,  the  platform,  and  the  right  of  petition.  The 
two  first  agencies  would  reach  the  people,  and  the  last 
their  representatives  in  Congress.  Garrison  declared 
iu  his  paper  "The  Liberator,"  that  he  would  be  heard; 
and  he  was  heard,  though  not  till  he  had  been  dragged 
througli  the  streets  of  Boston  with  a  halter  round  his 
neck.  In  Congress,  as  the  outcome  of  this  agitation, 
John  Quincy  Adams  ])resented  many  petitions,  praying 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  tiie  slave-trade  in  the 


248 


NEW    POLITICAL    IDKAS. 


nation's  cajjital,  tlie  District  of  Coliinil)ia.  lie  was  as- 
sailed witii  a  storm  of  indignation.  Congress  v^ould 
not  receive  the  petitions.  The}'^  continued  to  come  in 
by  the  Iiundred,  some  bearing  thousands  of  names.  All 
were  refused  a  hearing.  Tlie  venerable  Adams,  —  "  the 
Old  Man  Eloquent,"  —  then  in  his  sixty-fifth  3'ear,  was 
declared  an  incendiary  unworthy  of  a  seat  in  the  ('api- 
tol,  and  a  resolution  to  expel  him  was  even  introduced ; 
but  his  brave  stand  for  the  right  of  petition  made  a 
lumdred  friends  for  the  anti-slavery  cause  where  one 
had  been  before. 


IOWA   ADMITTED. 

Iowa  was  the  first  free  State  to  be  formed  out  of 
the  Louisiana  purchase.  She  had  been  admitted  with 
Florida  in  1845,  but  her  people,  being  dissatisfied  with 
the  boundaries  Congress  had  prescribed,  refused  to 
ratify  the  Act,  so  delaying  her  admission  until  the  next 
year  1840. 


THE    WAR    WITH    MEXICO. 

You  can  do  any  thing  with  a  bayonet  but  sit  on  It." 

Those  who  said  war  would  follow  the  annexation 
of  Texas  Avere  right.  It  was  soon  seen  that  Mexico 
would  not  sit  down  quietly  under  her  loss  of  territory, 
or  lightly  pass  over  the  affront  to  her  national  honor. 
They  who  reckoned  on  her  doing  so  forgot  that  if  the 
Spanish  race  is  indolent,  it  is  also  brave. 

When  nations  are  resolved  on  war  a  pretext  is  soon 
found  for  it. 


THE    WAIJ    WITH    MKXICO. 


249 


sou  II 


Texas  liad  l)r(>ught  witli  lior  into  tho  I'liion  a  dis- 
pute with  Mexico  about  lier  western  boundary.  She 
elaimed  to  the  Kio  Grande,  wliih'  Mexico  cLiinied  to 
tiie  Nueces,^  thus  leavin<:f  in  (juestion  a  tract  one 
liundred  miles  wide,  extending  between  these  rivers. 

It  is  true  the  tract  itself  was  worth  little  to  either 

party,  it  being  mostly   barren   prairie  land,  i>nt   in    n 

military  view  the  Rio  Grande  offered  much  the  strongest 

line    of    defence,    and  .   -'-.. 

^    -^  — ^    -  ,' 

for  this  reason   Texas  -^>«^^'~^  ^~:— "^ 

wanted  her  l)oundary 
lixed  on  it. 

A  Spanish  proverb 
snys,  "  Force  witliout 
forecast  is  little  worth." 
Mexico  was  quietly 
massing  troops  along 
the  Hio  Grande,  in  the 
disputed  territory,  to  be  ready  to  fight,  while  sounding 
England  to  see  if  she  would  not  help  her  against  the 
United  States.  England  was  too  wise  to  do  so  oi)enly, 
but  stood  ready  to  take  advantage  of  whatever  the 
chance  of  wr*r  might  throw  in  her  way.  As  Mexico 
owed  England  money  it  was  thought  England  would 
take  California  as  soon  as  fighting  began,  both  as  secu- 
rity for  the  debt,  and  to  get  possession  of  a  Pacific  port, 
which  we  were  preventing  her  from  doing  in  Oregon, 
and  would  prevent  in  California.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  war  broke  out,  our  Government  had  determined  to 
take  California  itself  and  at  once.  So  something  more 
than  a  question  of  boundary  was  depending  on  war  with 
Mexico. 

If  now  Mexico  had  chosen  to  give  up  tlie  boundary 


MEXICAN   CART. 


250 


THK    WAII    WITH    MKXICO. 


ill  dispute,  without  u  figlit,  there  is  no  telling  liow 
the  decision  might  have  affected  the  future  of  the 
United  States.  Tlie  (question  is  perhaps,  itself,  the  best 
apology  we  can  iind  for  the  war. 

Tiie  (juarrel  having  tlius  heconie  ours,  troops  were 
sent  to  the  Lower  Rio  Grande  to  liold  possession.  The, 
Mexicans  brouglit  forces  to  oppose  them,  and  fighting 
l)ogan.  After  driving  back  the  Mexicans  at  I'alu 
Alto,  and  Uesaca  de  la  Palma,  our  forces  crossed  the 
Uio  Grande  into  Mexican  territory.     General  Zachary 

-— ,        Taylor     commanded    on 
ti)is  line. 

War  being  thus  begun, 
steps  were  taken  to  push 
it  by  assembling  an  army 
f)f  fifty  thousand  volun- 
teers, and  i)lans  laid  to 
invade  Mexico  at  differ- 
ent points.  In  Generals 
Scott,  Taylor,  and  Wool, 
we  had  able  leaders,  but 
the  men  they  had  under  them  were  mostly  new  to  war, 
being  hastily  levied  and  sent  off'  into  the  field  before 
they  could  be  properly  trained  in  the  use  of  arms. 

In  the  North  the  war  was  unpopular.^  Its  coming 
was  foreboded  and  its  consequences  viewed  with  alarm. 
That  section  therefore  looked  on  with  indifference  until 
the  actual  fighting  roused  the  national  spirit.  Then  the 
people,  in  general,  heartily  desired  the  success  of  our 
arms,  though  they  still  deprecated  the  war  itself. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South,  and  particularly 
the  South-west,  the  war  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm. 
The  people  there  did  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  its 


MBXICAN   ARAflTKA,   FOB  UUINUINU  UIIE8. 


THE    WAR    WITFI    MEXICO. 


251 


aims  were  such  as  sliould  control  the  acts  of  one 
powerful  nation  toward  its  weaker  neijjjlihor,  hut  <^'avo 
it  unstinted  .suppt)rt  from  the  first.  In  Texas  the  war 
spirit  was  fully  aroused  hy  the  inomise  of  meeting  her 
(»ld  enemy  on  more  equal  terms. 

The  war  soon  developed  the  larger  issues  we  have 
])()inted  out.  So  though  sometimes  called  '"a  little 
war,"  it  is  seen  that  the  contest  with  Mexic(j  was  heing 
waged  for  a  large  stake. 


'  The  Nueces  liiul  Ikhmi  thouckiiowl- 
f(l}?od  line  between  the  provlnccn  of 
(oahnilH  and  Texan,  before  the  latter 
achieved  her  Indeponileiice,  an  shown  liy 
niapHof  the  time. 

'^  TiiK  Waii  Unpoi'IILar.  PliioanlH 
(•allin«  for  volunteern  were  jioKted  in  the 
i-lreetH,  headed  with  the  wordu  "  Ho  for 
the  IlallH  of  the  MontezuniaH!  "  The  at- 
tempt of  the  adiniidxtralion  party  to 
kindle  a  war  Hpirit,  however,  fell  Hat. 

The  regitneut  rai8ed  In  MaMuicbuaeltri 


wan  not  even  checreti  when  paHHini^ 
thronuh  the  8treelH  of  ISoHton  on  itt  way 
to  the  front,  atal  on  itx  return  home  iti* 
(lagH  were  refnM»d  a  plaee  in  the  Slate 
Capitol. 

Itiit  in  ArkanHaH,  T.oulHiana,  Ala- 
bama and  .MiHHiHitippi  the  war  fever  ran  no 
high  that  fifty  thousand  men  t^oiild  have 
been  furiiixhed  by  thene  Statc-n  alone.  In 
Mome  diHtrietH  the  ruHli  was  no  grt-at  that 
It  wan  feared  there  would  be  too  few 
whi".«'«  left  to  keep  the  uegrovs  quiet. 


CONQUEST  OF  NEW   MEXICO. 

WiTTLE  the  heaviest  fighting  was  going  on  in  Old 
Mexico,  the  Government  easily  took  possession  of 
New  Mexico  and  California,  hy  means  of  expeditions 
organized  on  the  remote  frontiers. 

New  Mexico  was  wanted  for  the  emigration  to  the 
Pacific.  If  we  were  to  liave  California  we  nuist  also 
have  the  right  of  way  to  it.  In  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards,  New  Mexico  barred  access  to  the  Pacific  so 
completely  that  the  oldest  travelled  route  was  scarcely 
known  to  Americans  at  all,  and  but  little  used  by  the 
Spaniards  themselves. 

If  now  we  consult  a  nuip  of  the  United  States  it  is 


II 


262 


CONQl'EST   OF    NEW    MEXICO. 


Si'cii  tliiit  the  tliirty-f«>urtli  paiiillcl  crosses  tliu  Missis- 
sii)i)i  at  tlic  inoutii  of  tlio  Arkansas,  (Uits  Nuw  Mexico 
in  tlic  middle,  and  reaches  (liePacilic  near  Los  Angeles. 
It  was  long  the  belief  of  statesmen  that  the  great  tide 
of  emigration  must  sot  along  this  line,  hectause  it  had 
tlie  most  tem|)erat(;  climate,  was  shorter,  and  would  Ix- 
found  freer  from  hardshi[)  tli.m  the  route  hy  way  ot" 
the  S'  ..*h  Pass.  This  view  had  set  on  foot  the  explora- 
tioi  .0  Arkansas  and  l{e(l  rivers.     Hut  if  we  excM'pt 

the  livtie  that  Pike  and  I^ong  had  gathered,  almost 
nothing  was  known  about  it.  Vet  the  prevailing  belief 
gave  New  Mexico,  as  related  to  California,  an  excej)- 
tional  importance. 

These  considerations  weighed  for  more  than  ac([uisi- 
tion  of  territory,  though  the  notion  that  New  Mexico 
contained  very  rich  silver-mines  uiuloubtedly  had  force 
in  determining  its  conciuest.  Otherwise  it  was  held  t<i 
be  a  poor  country,  with  little  arable  land,  mostly  moun- 
tainous, and  scarcely  fertile  in  the  valleys,  while  in 
conseciucnce  of  its  great  elevation  the  winters  were 
severe. 

Thus  New  Mexico  seemed  placed  by  Nature  as  a  half- 
way-house may  stand  alone  at  the  summit  of  a  mountain 
pass  with  deserts  ui)on  either  side.  It  offered  a  i)hu'e 
for  the  refreshment  of  the  nation's  travellers.  At  best 
it  was  (july  a  thin  wedge  of  semi-civilization  driven 
north  into  barbarism  as  far  as  Spanish  i)ower  could 
send  it,  but  this  force  had  spent  itself  long  ago,  and 
New  Mexico  now  lay  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of 
l)rogress,  in  contented  isolation.  Our  Government  de- 
termine(l  to  remove  the  obstruction. 

With  this  object  (reneral  Kearney  marched  from  Fort 
Leavenworth  in  June,  1840,  for  Santa  Fd,  at  the  head 


CONgUKST    OF    NEW    MEXICO. 


258 


of  a  Toree  ^  of  wliicli  a  liuttiiliou  of  Mttinions  foniiod 
part.  After  subduing  New  Mt'xi(M»,  Kcanicy  was  to  go 
on  to  California,  and  witli  the  help  of  naval  foiccs 
idready  sent  there,  for  the  purpose,  con(|Uer  that  country 
also. 

It  is  worth  while  to  dwell  a  niomont  upon  one  feature 
of  this  expedition,  if  only  for  its  singularity.  The 
Mornuuis  were  to  be  paid  oO'  in  California,  were  to 
turn  the  sword  into  a  plough- 
share and  settle  in  the  coun-  || 
try,  «*iud  had  therefore  been  ^ 
allowed  to  take  their  families 
and  property  with  them. 
They  were  seen  when  setting 
out  on  the  march  bv  Mr. 
Parkman,  who  thus  describes 
tiiem  :  "  There  was  some- 
thing very  striking  in  the  2 
half-military,  half-patriarchal 
appearance  of  these  armed 
fanatics,  thus  on  their  way 
with  their  wives  and  children 
to  found,  it  might  be,  a  Mormon  empire  in  California. 

"In  the  morning  the  country  was  covered  with  mist. 
We  were  always  early  risers,  but  before  we  were  ready 
the  voices  of  men  driving  in  the  cattle  sounded  all 
around  us.  As  we  passed  above  their  camp,  we  saw 
through  the  obscurity  that  the  tents  were  falling,  and 
the  ranks  rapidly  forming;  and,  mingled  with  the  cries 
of  women  and  children,  the  rolling  of  the  Mormon 
drums  and  the  clear  blast  of  their  trumpets  sounded 
through  the  mist. 

"From  that  time  to  the  journey's  end,  we  met  almost 


I'CEBLO  WUHAN  UKINUINU  COBN. 


254 


CONgUEST    OK   NEW    MEXICO. 


every  <l8iy  loiigj  trains  of  govcniment  wajj^oiis,  laden 
with  stores  for  the  troops,  eniwliii^  at  a  snail's  pace 
towards  Santa  Ke." 

(leneral  Kearney  niarclied  by  the  Ui)j)er  Arkansas,  to 
iJent's  Kort,2  and  from  Bent's  Fort  oV(;r  the  old  tniil 
throuj^h  VA  Moro  and  Las  V\'gas,  San  Mintiel  and  Old 
Pecos,   without   meeting   the  oi>[)osition    he    expected, 

or  at  any  time  seeing  any  eon- 

)()dy  of  the  enemy. 

On     the    IHth    i.f 

August,  as  the  sun 

\\Ii^i?^^WSS!^    (cJ^^^Wlt/^^^M'  \,)W^     was     settinjj,    the 

stars  and  strijies 
were  unfurled  over 
the  palace  of  Santa 
Fd,  and  New  Mex- 
ico was  dcelarcfl 
"^^  annexed^  to  the 
United  States. 
Either  the  home 
governmont  thought  New  Mexico  quite  safe  from 
attack,  or,  having  decided  to  reserve  all  its  strength 
for  the  main  conflict,  had  left  this  province  to  its 
fate. 

After  organizing  a  civil  government,  and  ai)pointing 
Cliarles  Bent  of  Bent's  Fort,  governor,  General  Kearney 
broke  up  his  camp  at  Santa  Fe,  Sept.  26.  His  force 
was  now  divided.  One  part,  under  Colonel  Doni- 
phan, was  ordered  to  join  General  Wool  in  Chihuahua. 
A  second  detachment  was  left  to  garrison  Santa  Fd, 
while  Kearney  went  on  to  Ccalifornia  with  the  rest  of 
the  troops.  The  people  everywhere  seemed  disposed  to 
submit  quietly,  and  as  most  of  the  i>ueblos  soon  prof- 


BOT  AND  DONKKYH. 


CONQUEST   OK   NKW    MKXU'(J. 


2o5 


to   its 


Doni- 

lUlllUll. 

ita  F6, 
•est  of 


forod  their  allegiance  to  the  lTiiite<l  States  CJoveniiiu'iit, 
little  Tear  of  an  onthreak*  was  felt. 

Hef«»re  leaving  the  valley,  a  eouiier  was  met  hrar- 
ing  the  news  that  California  also  had  suhniittj'd  to  ns 
withont  striking  a  l)low.  This  information  decided 
iieral  Kearney  to  send  hack  most  of  his  n'n:ain- 
i  T  force,  while  with  a  few  soldiers  only  he  con- 
tinued his  march  through  what  is  now  Arizona  for  the 
I'acilic. 

Near  his  point  of  departure  from  the  Uio  (Jrande,  a 
deputation  of  the  Ai)achescame  to  have  a  talk  with  tlm 
general.  These  hereditary  foes  of  the  Spaniards  were 
lost  in  wonder  at  seeing  the  order  and  celerity  with 
which  our  cavalry  obeyed  the  bugle-call  of  "boots  and 
saddles,'*  —  the  order  to 
mount  for  the  march. 
The  pent-up  wrath  of 
three  hundred  years 
broke  forth  among  them 
in  hot  words.  "  Vou 
have  taken  New  Mexico, 
and  will  soon  take  Cali- 
fornia," they  said.  "  Go, 
then,  and  take  Chihua- 
hua, Durango,  and  Sono- 
ra.  You  fight  for  land.  We  care  nothing  for  land. 
We  fight  for  the  laws  of  Montezuma  and  for  food. 
The  Mexicans  are  rascals,  and  we  will  kill  them 
all ! " 

Leaving  this  force  to  make  its  slow  way  down  the 
Gila,  and  across  the  sandy  desert  of  Lower  Calif()rnia, 
we  will  now  inquire  what  had  ]iai)i)ened  to  wrest  Cali- 
fornia from  Spanish  rule  without  bloodshed. 


I'LEUUI  or  TA«»S. 


2r)0 


CONQIIKST   OF    NKW    MKXICO. 


'    OKXKItAI.  HTHPIIKN  WaTTH 

Kkaunky'n  Kou<  k  ciiiiHiHUMl  of  two 
liiilloricH  Df  artillery  (Mujor  (jlark  com 
iiiiiiiilliii{),  tliri'i'  Hi|UmlriiiiM  (if  ilriiKOoiiM 
(Mujor,  afiirwurd  <iciii-rul,  Hiimin-r), 
DdiiipliaiiV  1111(1  I'ricf'H  (uflcTWiirii  ()i-ii- 
*-ritl  (-'.  H.  A.)  MlHHoiiri  nuiiiiciilH,  anil 
the  Moriiioii  ItalUilioii  (roloiicl  I'.  St. 
(i«>orK<*  <.'(Mik(!)'  It  witMMilUiil  the  Army 
of  thf  NVuMi. 

»  IJknt'm  Kout  (two  liiiiKln-il  mll<>H 
Hoiitli-<-tu«l  of  hciivcr)  WUM  all  iiii|M>rla*it 
to  llif  HiicccHK  of  IIiIh  citinpaiKii.  Il  wiih 
a  lurtft!  <|UiulruiiKlf  with  uiIoIm!  wuIIh  utid 


liaxlloiiH,  Himllur  to  Port  Larnmif  (n*f<T 
lo<lciwrl|)lioii  of  h'ort  Laramifj.  Naiiiiil 
for  riiarluM  lit-iit,  ItM  foinitler. 

'  New  Mkxk  o  annkxkii.  (h>ni>riil 
Krariicy'H  act  wiui  premalinT.  'I'liiM 
coiiltl  Im-  (lone  only  liy  Atrl  of  (,'oii|{rfHH. 

*  No  Ol'TIIUKAK  KXI'Kf  TKI».  Itlll  ;i 
K<'ii<'ral  oni-  IH-Kun  ul  'I'aoM,  ilaiiiiaiy, 
IH47,  with  a  muMKitcrt!  uf  Aniurivaiix, 
(Jovcrtior  Kent  ImIiik  otii-of  the  vIclhiiM. 
Il  waM)|ticll«-<l  by  < 'ol-)iii-l  I'rU-c,  wliulook 
'i'tum.  'VUv  oil!  elinrcli  of  'I'iom  wuh  or 
ctipii-il  liy  iiiHiirKcntx,  who  were  (irlven 
uul  liy  Kil  Curiiou  auil  Si.  \'ruiu. 


THE   TAKING   OF  CALIFORNIA. 

TllK  c;()uiit;r  wlio  luid  Iuk'ii  stopjK'd  by  Gcnciiil 
luiiiiiM'y  was  Kit  ( 'arson,  Kiciiioiil's old  guidr.  (/Jirsoii ' 
WUH  on  liis  way  to  VVasliington  with  despjitchcs  iVoni 
Coniniodorc!  Stockton  and  Captain  Kreniont. 

A  f<*w  words  will  explain  liow  Fremont  vmuw.  to  Im- 
in  (California  at  8o  critical  a  tini(\  While  trying  to 
make  his  way  hack  to  tlu;  States,  throngh  tluj  Sierriis, 
lit;  had  heciu  foretid  to  rijeross  their  snows  into  the  Sae- 
raincinto  Valh^y,  and  had  (lescended  this  valh^y,  whicli 
was  t'onnd  nninhabittMl,  Have;  by  Indians,  to  SiitterV 
Fort,'-*  where  means  were  furnished  him  to  continue  his 
journey  honntward. 

Dtiliglittid  with  the  country,  lu;  had  nnuh'  so  favorahii 
a  report  of  it  that  In;  was  again  sent  out  (lS4r))  for  tln' 
purpost;  of  iinding  the  shortest  route  for  a  railroad  tn 
the  I'aeilie,  and  especially  to  the  neighborhood  of  San 
Krantiiseo  Bay. 

When  Fremont  set  out,  war  with  Mexico  was  thoug'it 
to  bo  near  at  hand.  Our  (-overnment  coveted  Cali- 
fornia for  several  reasons.     For  <»no  thing,  our  whale- 


TIIK   TAKIN*}    OK   ('ALIFOKNFA. 


257 


lislu'iy  in  tin;  Pacifir  liad  grown  to  In;  a  }^roal,  business, 
in  wiiicli  twenty  tlionsand  sailors  an<)  two  iiuiitlre«l 
tiiousand  tons  of  slii|)|(ing  were  unii>Ioy(!(l.  This  int«'r- 
<!st  tlierelore  wanted  (  alilornia,  heeanse  tiu^  |)oit  of  San 
Franeiseo  was  tlie  only  one  in  tin;  North  I*a<'ilie  not 
l>h)eke<l  np  hy  a  sand-har,  lii<(! 
that  wliich  renders  th(;  month  of 
ihii  Coliunbiu  so  <liilicult  ol'  ac- 
cess. 

Moreover,  a  eonsi(h'ral»hi  enu- 
grution''  iiad  already  I'onnd  its 
way  into  Calilornia,  wiiose  line 
elinjati!  and  fertile  soil  th(;se  peo- 
|)l(;  praised  so  nine!i  to  tluMr 
friends  at  home,  thist  many  wtirc 
already  <»n  the  road,  and  more 
preparing  to  follow  them.  (In- 
known  to  tlnMuselves  they  were 
to  lie  the  founders  of  a  n(!W  com- 
monwealth. And  even  at  this 
early  <lay  (iovj-rnment  and  peo- 
ple were  talking  of  a  I'acilic 
railroad,  as  a  thing  of  coming 
necessity,  and  the  mor(;  sanguine 
helievtirs  in  *' manifest  ilestiny" 
tlxuight  as  many  as  lifteen  thou- 
sand Americans  would  he  setth'd  in  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia during  their  lifetime.  Thus  W(>  had  imponant 
eonnnereial  views  touching  California,  ami  we  wow 
throwing  into  it  what  might  he  eonsidcucd  in  the  light 
of  the  vsingiiard  of  an  army  of  occupation.  \Ve  hu<l 
won  Texas  in  this  way,  and  would  win  Oregon  tiM). 

Jt   became    a    printe   object   with    Tresident    l*olk   to 


l^tt,, 


mu  TKKK. 


258 


THK  TAKINC}   OF  OALIKOHNIA. 


wf'iiro  California,  poaocahly  if  wo  could,  lorcihly  if  wv 
imist.  Mt'xi(M)  was  liist  asked  to  sell  it,  l)Ut  refusod. 
()iir<iov('niiiu'iit  (lien  lu'^^aii  a sccroi negotiation  tiirough 
the  Anuijiean  consul*  at  Monterey,  which  aimed  to 
hring  about  the  voluntary  secession  of  California  from 
the  Mexican  Kepuhlic  altogether,  and  the  setting-up 
instead  of  an  independent  government  there  under  our 
protection.  Hut  if  this  plan  failecl — and  it  did  not 
succeed  —  every  thing  was  made  reatly  to  take  Californiii 
by  force  <»f  arms. 

There  was  also  fear  lest  Kngland  might  try  to  obtain 
ill  California  what  sh(>  was  about  to  lose  in  Oregon, 
namely,  a  I*jicilic  seaport.  Her  ships  were  in  those 
Waters.  Mexico  ow«;d  Kngland  m(»ney,  as  we  have 
said.  How  far  this  fear  was  well  foun<hM!,  is  not  <'lcar: 
but  that  it  was  felt  then;  can  be  no  doubt,  for  we  (ind 
Mr.  Huchanan,  our  Secretary  of  State,  instructing  our 
consul  at  Monterey  that  'MIm-  I'nited  States  would 
vigorously  interp(»se  to  prevent  Calilornia  becoming  a 
British  or  French  colony." 

In  furtherance  of  these  views  (Uir  s<|uadron  in  the 
Pacific  h.<d  orders  to  take;  possession  of  the  chief  ports 
of  the  country,  so  soon  as  war  should  begin. 

FremcMit  thi^reforc  started  on  his  third  expedition 
across  the  continent  w«'ll  inlormi'd  of  t)ie  general  |»oli«  y 
of  the  (iovernment  towani  California.  For  the  rest,  his 
work  was  to  Im-  done  wholly  on  Mcxit'an  ground,  which, 
being  taken  with  the  other  elements  of  the  case,  of  itself 
seems  plainly  foreshadowing  tin;  viewsof  the  (iovernment. 

On  this  journey,  Fremont  crossed  from  the  head  of 
tlie  Arkansas  into  Flab,  and  from  the  Ftah  Desert  to 
the  I^undioldt  Mountains  and  Kiver,  both  <»f  which 
he  named  at  this  time  fiu'  the  giv.it  (termuii  Hcientist. 


*■-./.  f,,, 


THK   TAKIN(J    OK   CAMl'OltNIA. 


2'>1> 


y  if  wo 

lL'lus«;i|. 

Iiroiigh 
iMcd  to 
ia  fniiii 
tiii^-ii|i 
tier  our 
li<i  not 
lit'ornia 

ohtiiiii 

)lVj(Oll, 

I    those 

V    liavc 

clrar: 

YU    tilMl 
llg    olll 

Would 
iiiiiig  a 

ill   till* 
jiorrs 

ditioii 
polirv 

St.  Ili.H 

\N  liich. 

itsrit' 

iiM'ht. 

•a<l  ol 

«?rt  to 

which 

iitist. 


Vi'inu  hrn;  hr  again  stniik  tlku  Siena  Neva<h«,  which  he 
crossed,  as  Ijel'orc,  into  the  Sacraineiiiw  \^inev. 

rpon    reacliing    tiic!   vi<;inity  of   M(»nt«  ivy,   Frenu»nt 
wa8  ordcrecl  out  of  t!»e  country  l»y  the  Mexican  authori- 


SI? 


'^i\Mi.i^f 


'A-  ■»^^-i'""* — *!>>'• 


o4  .       1     -ilii?.:rX.  » 


\h 


•^>iimM,R.   \ 


'^ 


1*1 


nTAIfcH    AM*   TKKIirnmilii*    Att^tlUKU    MluV    MfcMtO. 

ties.  Intrenching  liiniself  on  a  hill,  itack  of  Monterey, 
he  hoisted  tiie  American  Hag,  and  Itath:  deiianc(>  to  the 
order.  Finding  tiic  Mexicans  wouhl  not  attack  him, 
lie  marched  northward  u|>  the  Sacramento  N'alley  as 
far  as  Klamath  l.ake  iinmoh-stcd,  sa\e  Ity  Indians  nilh 
whom  he  had  several  comhats. 


260 


THE  TAKINO    OF   CALIFORXIA. 


At  this  |)1ji(o,  Fromont  was  overtaken  by  a  messenger 
\vli<»  iiad  coino  across  Mexico  witli  despatclu's  from  the 
(ioverument.  It  is  tlioiighl  Fremont  was  unonieially 
a<lvise(l  to  make  the  most  of  any  opportunity  tliaf 
shouM  present  itself.  Al  any  rate,  he  seems  to  have 
tliou^lit  the  time  was  come  for  him  to  drop  his  charac- 
ter of  exph»rer  and  tnrr)  his  jiresence  in  California  to 


CALirOUNIA    INUIANH    ANU  TULU    UVVH,   hACllAJIKNTU  VALLKY. 

account.  He  therefore  set  out  ut  once  for  Sutter's 
Fort,  where  he  couUl  be  near  the  American  settlers, 
who  were  livinj^  in  tlie  lower  part  of  the  valley  or 
about  the  Itay  of  San  Francisco.  Fremont  thus  became 
tlie  rallying-point  for  his  countrymen  in  Califoriiiu,  and 
tlieir  protector. 

This  was  in  June,  184(».  Rumors  of  war  were  now 
flying  thick  an«l  fast.  Tlie  Californians  were  (juarrel- 
ling  among  themselves  over  questions  then  dividing  the 


THE   TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


261 


ssenger 
Din  the 
nicially 
ty  tlisit 
to  have 
charac- 
)niia  to 


^ 


{• 

Sutter's 
settlers, 
illey  or 
becanu' 
Ilia,  uikI 

»re  now 
(juarr«'l- 
ling  the 


Mexiean  nation.  The  Anieriean  settlers  were  tlnown 
into  more  or  less  alarm  hy  the  threats  made  to  <lrive 
them  from  the  <M)untrv.  Wv.  had  shi[)s-ot-war  at  San 
Tranciseo  and  Monterey,  hut  their  eommanders  hesi 
tated  to  act  until  it  was  known  the  two  nations  were 
at  war.  The  settlers  [)Ut  an  end  to  all  indecision  hy 
raising  the  Hag  of  revolt  themselves.  On  tlie  lltli 
these  settlers  seized  Sonoma,  a  military  post  lying  to 
the  north  of  San  Pablo  Bay.  They  immediately  pro- 
claimed ('alifornia  an  independent  re[)uhlic.  Upon  this 
Fremont  put  himself  at  their  head.  lie  marched  first 
to  Sonoma,  and  next  to  the  Pn^sidio  of  San  Francisco, 
whose  garrison  tied  at  his  ap[)roach.  \\y  these  prompt 
acts  all  the  country  lying  north  of  the  Hay  of  San 
Francisco  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents. 

These  events  were  followed  hy  the  raising  of  an 
American  Hag  over  Monterey,  July  7,  i)y  Connnodore 
Sloat.  The  same  thing  was  done  hy  his  order  at  Verba 
IJuena  and  Sonoma.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  Frem(»nt 
also  hoisted  the  Hag  at  Sirtter's  Fort.  Ife  then  marched 
for  Monterey,  where  the  ships  Savannah,  Congress, 
Cyane,  and  Levant  were  lying  with  their  ginis  com 
manding  the  town.  An  Knglish  line-of-battle  ship  was 
also  anchored  in  the  basin  of  Monterey,  and  another 
at  Verba  Huena.  With  whatever  intentions  they  had 
come,  they  had  arrive<l  just  too  late. 

In  this  njanner  what  is  known  as  the  Bear  Flag  Rev- 
olution, from  the  settlers'  having  borne  a  bear  on  their 
stan<lard.  began  and  ended  with  Fremont  for  its  central 
figure.  Without  him  it  would  never  have  been  i 
ble.  Bui  f^r  liim  tlie  con<[uest  would  not  have 
when  it  did,  l)Ut  it  woidd  have  come. 


)OSSl- 

conic 


Connnodore  Stockton,  an  energetic  officer  wlio  sue- 


2t)2 


TIIK   TAKINIJ    OK   rALIFOUNIA. 


coodcd  Sloat,  imw  took  adivn  steps  for  initlinjjf  down 
iill  iiniu'd  icsis(aii('((  to  tlio  United  Statos.  Fremont's 
hiittalion/'  now  niustorcil  into  tin;  service  of  tlie  rnited 
States.,  but  until  tlien  acting  independently,  was  sent  to 
Siin    Dii'go   (lit    board   the  C'yane.     No   resistance  was 

met  with  at  Sjui  Diegn.  Fre- 
mont tiien  marclied  on  Los 
Angeles,  the  actual  capital, 
which  h(^  entered  in  eontpan} 
with  a  iorce  led  by  ('ommo(h)re 
St«»(;kton  I'rom  San  Pedro,  on 
the  coast.  The  C.'alifornians 
nowhere  madt;  a  staml,  but  lied 
to  the;  mountains  rising  behind 
Monterey. 

Calitornia  having  thus  falhui 
so  easily  into  our  liands,  steps 
wer<;  at  once  taken  to  (piiet  it. 
Civil  ollicers  were  api)ointed  to 
administer  the  government. 
The  inhabitants  were  j>romised 
rotection  so  long  as  iUvy  kept  peace, 
Idle,  as  if  to  clinch  what  had  been 
)ne  already,  numbers  of  emigrants 
were  eonnng  <lown  into  the  Sacra- 
mont(»  Valley  from  the  north,  and 
coming  to  stay. 
An  insurrection  in  the  south  put  an  end  to  this  state 
of  things.  In  a  litth^  time  the  interi(»r  country  was 
iigjun  overrun.  While  it  was  in  jirogress.  General 
Kearney  was  heard  from.  After  making  one  of  the 
longest  marches  on  ree(»rd,  he  had  arrived  near  San 
I*as(|Uid,    where   the    insurgents   were    found   in   some 


KI.  (  AI'ITA.N,    YOSKMITK. 


tin:  taking;  ok  camkoi^ma. 


2r,a 


streiij^tlj.  A  figlit  l(»nlv  |»1ji('('  ill  wliicli  Kcjinicy's  ovcr- 
mutcliccl  f(irco  Avas  iiui<^lily  liaiidliMl,  ami  fur  a  time 
liciiiincil  ill  l»y  foes.  Tlu'  Cjilifoiniaiis  wm-  lIuMnsrlvcs 
ill  turn  (lcf<'at(Ml  at  San  (ialniii  and  tlu;  Mesa,  and 
meeting  Ficniont  coining  to  at(a(-k  titcin  from  Santa 
Hailiara,  gave  tlieiiisclves  up  to  liim. 

The  war  (HI  the  I'acirnr  coast  was  tlius  ended,  whih' 
that  on  the  A I  hint  i(!  was  still  in  jirogress.  (lein'ial 
Tayhir  iiad  taken  Mttiiterey,  and  hiter  fought  tin;  liattle 
of  IJiieiia  \'ista,  which  was  oi»stinately  contested.  A 
secoml  army  under  (ieiieral  Scott  lanch'd  at  \'era  Cruz, 
ami,  witii  tile  aid  of  the  Heet,  took  tiie  castle  of  San 
Juan  de  Clloa.  This  armv  then  hei'aii  its  victiuious 
march  for  the  City  of  Mexico,  winning  hattles  at  Cerro 
(lordo,  ChuruI)US(;o,  MoIini»  del  Hey,  and  Cluqiultepee. 
Having  overeome  all  ojiposition,  the  capital  was  entered, 
and  the  war  ende<l  Sept.  11,  1«S47. 

By  the  treaty  of  peace,  which  followed  (Feh.  2, 1848), 
the  United  States  ac(piir(Ml  New  Mexico  and  California, 
for  which  lifteeii  millions  were  jtaid.  Mexico  also  gave 
up  h<!r  claim  to  the  territory  east  (d*  the  Kio  (Jrande. 
That  river  on  the  east,  and  tht^  Ciila  on  the  west,  now 
formed  the  southerij  iMUindaiy  of  the  Ignited  States, 
from  the  (Julf  of  Mexico  to  tin;  junction  of  tin;  (iila 
with  the  Colorado.  From  tliem-e  a  straight  line  ex- 
tended it  tu  the  Pacitie,  so  as  to  include  the  port  uf  Sua 
Diego. 


n    some 


*  ('arhon'h  rioMP.  wtiH  nt  TiMMi,  ntui 
lilt  knew  lli0  coniitry  thoroiiKhly.  Ilo 
liiul  |>n)n)i>u-<l  Ftciiiotii  to  u«  to  Wimh- 
iiiKtoii  lit  "Ixly  ilayx,  ;uhI  liiul  iilmttly 
kil!«'(l  or  worn  out  thirty  iniilfM  when  hv 
mil  KcariH'y. 

''  HuTTKn'H  PonT.  Captain  John  A. 
Sutler  won  by  birth  u  SwiiiN.     lU-  cunit- 


fioin  MIhhoiiiI  to  Ciilirornla  In  IX-IH-ao, 
iinil  niaili-  the  llmt  M>tlb-nicnt  In  tht'  vnl- 
li-y  on  a  lra)t  Kiiiiitiil  biin  by  tiiv  Mfxl 
can  Ooxi-i'iiiufnt  !ii  i-iiii»ii|iTiiii'in  of  HIm 
kfc|ilnu  tbf  IniliaiiN  In  ch«-<-k.  To  IhU 
cntl  lii>  I'liilt  a  toil  an<l  arin<'il  It  with 
KiitiN  iMtiiKht  of  tlit>  abiiiiiloiiiil  KiiMHiaii 
C'uluny  ul  DuileKU.     The-  (uil  wha  u  i|Uiul 


264 


TIIK   TAKIN(!    OF   CAMKOUNIA. 


rniiKiilnr     Rlnirtiiro,   biillt     of     mlnho, 

IIKilllllitit;  twilvc  KIIIIH,  iillil  Cilplllilr  of 
ronialniiiK  ii  lli<iiiHitii<l  iikmi,  tli(>iii{h  Kii' 
iiiutil  fdiiiiil  ill  it  lull  tliiiiy  wliitcM,  iiini 
forly  liiiliatiH  wliiitii  Suiter  hud  iIoiik-hII 
filled.  It  Htood  on  tl  e  liuiiltH  (if  a  creclt 
uniiiiiti;  to  (III-  Aiiiei'li'iiii  Kiver.  S'vu- 
HelHUHeeiid<'d  to  witliili  two  inileM  of  it. 
■•'reiiionl  found  In  Sulter'H  Fort  ii  liiim; 
reiidy  |ire|>iiied  for  hiH  operallonH  aval imt 
llie  <  aliforiiiaiiH.  'I'hoiiKli  hoUlliii^  it 
Mexinin  ooniniiHHion,  Suitor  H<Kin  joined 
the  Aiiierican  parly  hiniKolf.  Tlii'  foil  Im 
|ierliapH  lH>Ht  known  in  eonnoeiion  with 
the  diHcovery  of  K<>l<i  nt  HulU'r'H  Mill, 
now  (N)loinn,  lUly  niileMalM)v<' it.  Suiter 
lived  heri!  Independently,  laixinif  lar^t; 
cropn  unci  henlH  with  Indian  lH)K>rerH. 
Ilin  exleiiMive  ^raiil  wum  called  N'»?w 
Ilelv<-lla,  and  ineluded  the  hIU;  of  Sacra 
inenlo  ( 'lly.  Kxcept  Ihix,  ihu  Hpnniardrt 
had  neilher  |>oh|  nor  Heitloinuiit  In  llui 
great  Itanin  »f  <  'alifornla. 

»  Dk    MoritAH,  n  Krcnchinnn    who 
viMltvd  Califurnlu,  fHliiiialcH    lit   wholu 


white  populnlion  In   ISIJ  al    only  five 

lliitUHand,  of  uliii-h   three  hiintlred  uiid 

Hl.xly  wen;  AinerieanH,  and  alMiiil  mIx 
hundred  iialiveK  of  other  couulrteN. 

♦   'I'lIK       AMKUK  AM       (NiNHIII,        WIW 

ThoniaH  O.  I.arkin,  a  native  of  ChurlcH- 
t«iwn,  MaMH.,  who  went  to  < 'allfornlu  in 
ls:t'J.  lie  wii.-<  the  llrHi  and  only  Anicri 
can  coiiHul  in  that  country,  and  per- 
foniD'd  IiIh  diilicH  HO  Well  aM  to  win  the 
conlideneeof  all  parlicH.  "To  him,  per 
hapN  niorv  than  to  any  other  man,  the 
country  i<*  Indeliled  for  the  aei|ii|r<iiion 
«if  that  territory."  —  If.  U'.  Monuir. 

<■'   KltKMONT's      HaTTAMOV.        "  Fie 

moiit  r<Mli!  ahead,  a  npare,  active  lookini; 
man.  .  .  .  lie  wax  dreni>ed  In  a  liloiixe 
and  IcKKiiiKH.and  wore  a  fell  hat.  After 
him  came  nv(>  Delaware  IndlaiiH  who 
were  IiIh  iMHiy  uual'd,aiid  have  lieeii  with 
him  in  all  IiIh  waiiderinKH.  The  rcHl,  many 
of  them  iilackcr  than  the  IndiauH,  nxle 
twoand  two,  the  rille  IM-Int;  held  liy  one 
hand  acroHn  the  |iommel  of  the  widUlu." 
—  I.iiittindiil  W'li/jDttf,  /i.y. 


THE   MORMONS  IN   UTAH. 

Tfik  Monnons,  r»r  Liittor  Day  Siiints  '  ji.s  they  profcr 
to  call  tliL'insiilvcs,  liavo  hecMi  incntloMcd  in  a  IV)nii('r 
cliajitcr.  Tlioy  am  a  religious  ttoimnimity  wliosc^  tcai.-li- 
ings  difler  widely  from  those  of  any  oth(!r. Christian 
body  in  the  land.  For  one  thinjjf,  thc^y  allow  i»olypimy,''^ 
which  is  not  only  repugnant  to  the  moral  sense  of 
the  ;^real  Ijody  of  Christian  people,  l)iit  t(»  the  laws  as 
well. 

Driven  fnmi  Missouri  (18.^8),  and  from  Illinois  ten 
years  later,  (heir  leadtMs  irast  alxuit  for  some  place  of 
n^fuj^e,  so  remote  that  perseitiilion  liould  not  reach 
tlu'in,  and  wIh'Ic  they  mi^ht  practise  their  religious 
forms  freely,      iiike  most,   religious  sects   the   Mormons 


THK    MOKMONS    IN    I  TAH, 


'li\r^ 


it    'inly    flvi' 
iiiiiilri-il  utjil 
I   alHtiil    HJx 
iiitrit'H. 
IN  Mir  I,      wiiH 
of  CharleH. 
'iiliforiilu  ill 
Kiily  Aiiiorl 
y,   and    |ht- 
H  to  will  thi' 
I'o  hirn,  per 
cr   mail,  the 

f    ai!l|lliMittoll 


scjoiikmI   1(»   llirivc   n|Miii   |K'rs(M'iilitm,  tor  their  iiiiiiilH'rs 
wvA'ii  (;oiist;iiilly  iiicrt'Jisiii^'  under  it. 

It  Wiis  at  this  tiiiM.'  tliat    Ficiiioiil's  (h'StMiptiim  «»!*  th(? 
region  iiImuM  the  (Irciit  Suit  L;ike  arrested  the  attention 


'Mi^^;'.: 


'S' ■ntftmaw^- 


HALT   LAKK  CITY   ANil  TAIIKKN AILb. 


onnons 


•  •I"  Hri^dianj  Youn^;-,  tlie  MornHtn  jtatriarch.  Fremont 
had  said  the  valley  (if  IJear  Kiver,  a  tiil»ut;iry  t.l"  this 
lid<e,  niiide  "a  natur;ii  resting  and  it  •rniiiii<;'  station 
I'oi-  travellers."  Its  hottonis  were  extensive,  water 
i'Xeelleiit,  tinihei'  snilieient,  and  soil  well  adauleil  to 
the  grains  and  grasses  suited  to  so  el(!vat<;d  a  n^gion. 


2( 


TIIK    MoitMONS    IN    UTAH. 


'I'lic  ^nojit  lakr  would  furiilsli  cxliiiiistlrss  siipplics  ol 
Hult.  And  lie  ^avc  it  as  his  o))iiiiuii,  tliut  caltlo  aii<i 
horses  would  liiiivc  where  ^rass  and  salt  wern  so 
aliuinhintly  |.rovi(h'(l  hy  nature.  W'itli  tliesu  a<lvau- 
tages  \n'  reccMuuit'uded  it   lor  civili/ed  s(^ttIenuMit. 

I'lMUi  this,  the  Moruions,  who  were  I'ariuers  and 
gra/.iers,  decided  to  I'orui  themselves  in  oru;  great  cara- 
van, and  trav<d  to  this  (iiisit  Salt  Lal\«'.  They  startecl 
out  with  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  peoph;  and  s(*v- 
enty-thrcM}  wagons.  On  th(^  2ltli  of  .luly,  ISH,  as  the 
iuiravan  slowly  wound  <lown  tla^  Wasatch  Mountains, 
the  exihts  saw  the  ))lain  (»!'  their  New  .ferusah'UJ  stretch- 
ing out  hefore  them,  hut  when  they  H'suthed  it  they 
ioun<l  nothing  growing  upon  it   hut  sage-hushes. 

Tlioy  howevjM-  laid  out  their  (Mty'^at  (ho  loot  of  the 
hills,  on  a  river  which,  as  it  runs  from  Utah  Lako  to 
Salt  liake,  intercepts  tho  stnsims  (;oming  down  tla; 
(eastern  hills.  The  Mcuiuons  called  this  river  the  Jor- 
dan, because  of  Honie  fancied  resenihhinco  to  the  river 
of  Pah'stine. 

Finding  all  so  harnui  aljout  thein,  th(fse  j»eoph»  took 
eounsel  of  the  exp(!rien(;o  of  their  neighbors,  tlu;  l*ueblo 
Indians,  who  for  want  of  wood  build  their  houses  of 
a(h)l)e,  and  for  want  of  rain  raise  crops  by  watering 
them  artilleially.  Thus  Salt  l^ake  soon  grew  (Uit  of  an 
arid  plain  to  Ik^  a  <*ity  of  gardens  and  running  streams. 

In  Slotting  forth  the;  a<lvantages  of  the  I'tah  Basin, 
Fremont  had  describcMl  a  portion  of  tlu;  neighbor  r  tpuh- 
lic  of  Mexico,  with  which  we  wcM'e  then  at  peace,  and 
in  making  it  their  home  tlit;  Mormons  had  Ix^en  moved 
liy  a  (lesire  to  go  outside  the  limits  of  the  Unitcil 
States,  but  wen;  strangely  brought  back  within  them 
again  wlam  California  was  ceded  to  us. 


TIIK    MOUMONH    IN    I  TAIL 


207 


'I'lioiij^li  sliiit  out  I'nmi  I  lit*  woiM.  this  striiii^c  culony 
stciulily  ^r(>\v  in  sti-cn^tii  aiiil  iiiiiiiImts.  'I'lir  Mdritioii 
riiiircli  had  sent  out  its  inissioiiari«-s  to  make  converts 
in  other  lands,  i'or  in  th(!  I'nion  its  doctrines  were 
detested,  and  tiu;  coiiiinnnity  itself  h»oi<ed  upon  as 
littl(!  In^ttcfr  than  outcasts.  So  tiie  increase  was  mostly 
i'rom  this  source,  ilence  it  was  natural  that  the;  Mor- 
mon body  should  have  in  it  less  of  tin;  spirit  of  national 
reeling  than  other  connuunities,  and  j^now  luitre  and 
more  away  from  the  Union  hy  reason  ed'  its  isolation 
and  th(;  teachings  <d'  its  rulers. 

'rh(!S(!  t(;achings  wen;  enihodied  in  a  hierarchy,  (U-,  in 
other  words,  Church  and  State  wen;  ono  with  the;  Church 
al>()V(!  the  civil  authority.  The  bishops,  chief  priests, 
and  elders  were  the  actual  rulers,  who  both  madu  and 
gave  th(5  law,  and  each  niendun*  of  tla;  society  gavc^  a 
tenth  of  his  living  to  the  support  of  the  Church.  All 
who  did  not  conform  t(»  the  Mormon  faith  wore  denitMl 
any  share  in  civil  aiVairs.  Thus  the  Mormons  ha<l  set 
up  in  Ctah^  a  little  republic  of  their  own,  which,  in 
i'He'ct,  exclude(l  other  ciii/.ens  <d*  the  Cinon  from  a  full 
share  in  its  privileges.  'IMi<iugh  a  r<'publi(;  in  nann;  it 
was  u  despotism  at  the  root.  In  short,  the  Mormons 
had  gone  to  Utah  to  found  a  so(;iety  for  themselves 
alone,  in  which  none  but  their  own  people  shouhl  lind 
a  welcome. 

It  IoHowcmI  that  tla;  Mormon  state  was  looked  u]»on 
as  an  element  of  (hmger,  ratlujr  than  strength,  to  tin; 
Union,  for  the  place?  when;  it  was  foun<led  was  a  natiiial 
stronghold  from  which  tla;  authority  of  th<;  nation 
nnght  be  set  at  didiance,  as  soon   haj)p(!ned. 

Flourishing  oidy  by  reason  of  their  isolation,  the 
Mormons    looked   with    little   favor    ui)on    tin;    passing 


' 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


/ 


'n 


%/./     .^\  V  ids 


4 


5^- 


I  U 
11.25 


1^     1^ 


IM 

1.8 


IM  iim 


V] 


<? 


72 


7 


'/ 


kSka 


" 


&x 


V5^ 


o^ 


268 


THE   MOKMONS   IN    UTAH. 


emigration,  thoiigli  tliey  drew  nuieh  benefit  from  it. 
They  could  sell  their  cattle,  grain,  horses  and  other 
supplies  to  the  emigrants  at  high  prices,  but  the  steady 
march  of  these  people  toward  the  west  threatened  the 
security  they  wished  to  enjoy  apart  from  the  world. 
Though  always  hostile  to  the  great  westward  move- 
ment, and  sometimes  resorting  to  violence  to  stay  it,  the 
Mormons  have  been  made  to  contribute  to  its  success, 
not  indeed  as  free  agents,  but  as  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  destiny.  Formidable  only  in  their  seclusion, 
they  have  presented  the  anomaly  of  a  handful  of  people 
throwing  themselves  before  the  wheels  of  progress. 
Tliough  no  longer  formidable,  they  have  done  a  notable 
work  in  making  productive  what  was  before  considered 
an  uninhabitable  desert. 


1  The  Mormon  Sect  was  founded 
by  Joseph  Smith,  a  native  of  Vermont 
(1805),  who  claimed  direct  revelation 
from  God,  and  in  1830  put  forth  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  or  Mormon  Bible,  as 
of  Divine  inspiration.  The  same  j'ear  the 
Mormon  Church  began  at  Manchester, 
N.Y.  Smith's  authority  was  absolute, 
like  that  of  the  Pope,  and  could  continue 
only  by  apostolic  succession.  The  Mor- 
mons went  first  to  Ohio,  next  to  Jackson 
County,  Mo.,  then  to  Nauvoo,  111.,  where 
Smith  was  killed  by  a  mob  (1844) .  They 
had  little  settlements  at  the  Pueblo  of 
the  Arkansas  and  at  Fort  Bridger. 

2  Polygamy,  or  plurality  of  wives. 
The  Mormons  claim  to  practise  it  in 
accordance  with  a  revelation  of  the 
Divine  will.  It  is  however  now  made 
an  offence  by  United  Slates  laws  fiamed 
to  reach  it.      (See  the  Edmunds  Bill.) 

'  Their  City,  elevated  almost  a  mile 
above  the  sea,  "  was  located  mainly  on 
the  bench  of  hard  gravel  that  slopes 
southward  from  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
toward  the  lake  valley.     The  houses  — 


generally  small  and  of  one  story  —  have 
a  neat  and  quiet  look,  while  the  uniform 
breadth  of  the  streets  (eight  rods)  and 
the  '  magnificent  distances '  usually  pre- 
served by  the  buildings  (each  block  con- 
taining ten  acres,  divided  into  eight  lots, 
giving  each  householder  a  quarter  of  an 
acre  for  buildings,  and  an  acre  for  a 
garden)  make  up  an  ensemble  seldom 
equalled.  Then  the  rills  of  bright, 
sparkling,  leaping  water  which  How 
through  each  street  give  an  air  of  fresh- 
ness and  coolness  which  none  can  fail  to 
enjoy."  —  Horace  Greeley. 

*  Utah  is  the  name  of  au  Indian 
tribe,  said  to  mean  "  those  who  dwell  on 
the  mountains."  It  was  formed  into  a 
Territory,  1850,  "  The  great  basin,  six 
hundred  miles  by  three  hundred,  seems 
to  have  been  a  vast  inland  sea.  The  im- 
mediate valley  in  which  Salt  Lake  lies 
is  much  its  best  portion,  and  with  irriga- 
tion the  soil  is  very  productive."  —  A.  D 
Richardson.  But  for  polygamy,  Utah 
would  long  ago  have  beea  a.  State  la  \h*i 
Uniou. 


from  it. 
lid  other 
e  steady 
eiied  the 
e  world, 
d  move- 
xy  it,  the 

success, 
s  ill  the 
eclusioii, 
)f  people 
progress. 
I,  notable 
iisidered 


Ktory  —  have 
the  uniform 
ht  rods)  and 
usually  pre- 
h  block  con- 
to  eight  lots, 
[uarter  of  an 
1  acre  for  a 
>uble  seldom 
of    bright, 
which    flow 
air  of  fresh- 
le  can  fail  to 

f  au  Indian 
.fho  dwell  on 
rnied  into  u 
It  basin,  six 
idred,  seems 
;a.  The  ira- 
,lt  Lake  lies 
with  irriga- 
ve.>'  —  A.P. 
gamy,  Utah 
State  in  tjb.e 


Group  III. 


GOLD  IN  CALIFORNIA,  AND  WHAT  IT  LED  TO. 


"  There  is  nothing  in   the   world  so   sound  as  American 
society."  — GoLDWiN  Smith. 


I. 


THE    GREAT    EMIGRATION. 


EL  DORADO  FOUND  AT  LAST. 

"It  is  always  the  unexpected  that  happens." 

TTTHAT  El  Dorado  ^  had  been  to  tlie  active  imagin- 
*  *  ings  of  De  Soto's  Spaniards,  was  now  to  become  a 
reality  that  would  startle  the  world  from  its  long  for- 
getfulness.  The  world  believed  they  had  been  chasing 
a  phantom  which  lured  them  to  their  death.  One  seeks 
in  vain  to  know  why  Nature  at  last  revealed  the  secret 
she  had  so  long  kei)t  hid  from  those  who  had  sought 
but  not  found,  to  disclose  it  to  others  who  had  found 
without  seeking. 

The  war  was  scarcely  ended  ^  which  gave  us  Cali- 
fornia, when  a  scene  took  place  there  of  far-reaching 
moment  to  mankind.  Words  can  hardly  describe  it. 
For  a  time  it  seemed  the  overturning  of  all  laws  gov- 
erning the  acquisition  and  distribution  of  wealth,  if  it 
were  not  to  put  the  common  laborer  on  a  level  with  the 
niillionnaire,  and  so  revolutionize  society  itself.  When 
we  consider  what  has  followed  in  its  train,  the  story 
itself  seems  tame  indeed. 

Captain  Sutter  had  been  having  a  saw-mill  built  for 
Inm  fifty  miles  above  his  fort,  on  the  south  fork  of  the 
American  River,  which  is  here  a  swift  mountain  stream. 

271 


272 


EL  DORADO  FOUND  AT  LAST. 


One  evening,  when  all  witliin  the  fort  wore  its  usual 
quiet,  a  liorseman  rode  up  in  hot  haste,  and  asked  to 
see  Sutter  alone.  Tliis  was  James  W.  Marshall,  one  of 
Sutter's  men,  who  had  charge  of  the  mill  above.  See- 
ing by  his  manner  that  something  unusual  was  the 
matter,  Sutter  led  the  way  into  his  private  room,  and 
turned  the  key 
in  the  lock. 
With  much 
show  of  mys- 
tery, Marshall 


1-.', -»j  7  I,,- Vn-vP'-v d-  '•' J-'  \  '      ■ 


SITTKH'S    MILL. 


then  handed  his  employer  a  packet,  which  being  opened, 
was  found  to  contain  a  handful  of  yellow  metal,  in  flakes 
or  kernels,  which  he  said  he  had  taken  from  the  mill- 
race,  and  asserted  to  be  gold.  By  the  light  of  a  candle 
the  two  men  bent  over  the  little  heap  of  shining  particles 
in  eager  scrutiny.  Sutter  would  not  believe  it  was  gold. 
Marshall  was  sure  it  could  be  nothing  else.     Aquafortis 


Elv   DORADO    FOUND   AT    I.AST. 


273 


its  usual 
asked  to 
ill,  one  of 
)ve.     See- 
was    tlir 
com,  and 


;  opened, 
in  flakes 
the  mill- 
a  candle 
particles 
,vas  gold, 
quafortis 


was  then  tried  without  elt'eet.  The  metal  was  next 
weighed  with  siiver,  in  water.  All  doubt  was  removed. 
It  was  indeed  gold,  yellow  gold,  that  Marshall  had  found. 
His  story,  briefly  told,  was  to  this  ef'leet.  They  had 
started  the  mill,  when  the  tail-race  was  found  too  small 
to  carry  off  the  water.  In  order  to  deepen  it  the  whole 
head  of  water  was  then  let  into  the  race,  thus  washing 
it  out  to  the  required  depth.  It  was  while  looking  at 
the  work  the  water  had  done,  that  jNIarshall  saw  many 
shining  particles  lodged  in  crevices  of  the  rocks,  or 
among  the  dirt  the  water  had  carried  down  before  it. 
All  at  once  it  flashed  upon  him  that  this  might  be  gold. 
Gathering  up  what  he  could  without  risk  of  detection, 
he  had  started  off  for  the  fort  without  makino-  his 
discovery  known  to  any  one. 
_  Sutter  saw  his  happy  pastoral  life  of  the  past  on  the 

n  point  of  vanishing.  He  made  an  idle  effort  to  keep  the 
discovery  secret,  at  least  till  he  could  set  his  house  in 
order.  It  was  soon  known  in  the  household  and  at  the 
mill.  From  this  little  mountain  nook  it  was  borne  on 
the  wings  of  the  wind  to  the  sea-coast,  and  from  the 
sea-coast  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 

Captain  Sutter's  men  ^  deserted  him  in  a  body.  The 
American  settlers  and  Indians  of  the  neighborhood 
next  caught  the  infection.  Gold  was  (piickly  found  at 
a  point  midway  between  Sutter's  Fort  and  Mill,  called 
the  Mormon  Diggings,*  on  Feather  River,  and  in  the 
gulches  above  the  mill  site.  From  these  districts  the  first 
miners  began  to  straggle  down  to  San  Francisco  with 
pouches  of  gold-dust  in  their  possession.  Men  who  had 
hardly  known  what  it  was  to  have  a  dollar  of  their  own 
suddenly  lived 

"  Likt!  an  emptTor  in  their  expense." 


274 


EL  DOKADO  FOUND  AT  LAST. 


Tlie  elfocl  was  iiiagicul.  Witliin  u  short  tlirec 
inoiitlis  most  ol"  tliu  houses  in  Siiii  Francisco  and  Monte- 
rey were  slnit  up.  IMacksniitlis  k'ft  their  anvils,  car- 
penters tlieir  benches,  saikn-s  their  ships.  Sohherswere 
every  day  deserting  from  tlie  garrisons  of  San  Francisco, 

Sonoma,  and  Mon- 
terey. The  two 
newspapers^  tlieii 
printed  in  the  coun- 
try suspended  tlieir 
issue  indefinitely, 
li^verybody  was  oft 
for  the  mines,  and 
nothing  else  was 
talked  of  but  gold. 
('onsul  Larkiii 
thus  describes  tlu^ 
scene  at  the  Mor- 
mon Diggings  in 
June,  1848:  "At 
my  camping-place 
I  found  forty  oi' 
fifty  tents,  mostly 
occupied  by  Ameri- 
cans, strewn  about 
the  hillsides  next 
the  river.  I  spent 
two  nights  in  company  with  eight  Americans,  two  of 
whom  were  sailors,  two  carpenters,  one  a  clerk,  and 
three  common  laborers.  With  two  machines  called 
cradles,  these  men  made  fifty  dollars  each  per  day.  An- 
other miner  had  washed  out,  with  a  common  tin  pan, 
gold  to  the  value  of  eighty-two  dollars  in  a  single  day." 


TWO   MINERS. 


EL  DOKADO  TOUND  AT  LAST. 


275 


Mr.  Liii'kin  tli(»ii<  lit  tlicn;  were  then  mIkmiI  oik-  jIkhi- 
sand  people,  mostly  t'orcigiicis,  jictiuilly  working-  in  the 
mines,  whose  daily  gains  would  amount  to  at  least  ten 
thousand  dollars.  And  he  even  ventured  to  hint  that 
at  this  rate  gold  enough  would  l)e  produced  in  a  single 
year  to  repay  what  California  had  cost  the  nation. 

Colonel  Mason,  the  military  governor,  adds  what  he 
saw  while  making  a  tour  of  ins[)ecti()n  to  the  new- 
placers:  ''Along  the  whole  route  mills  were  lying  idle, 
iields  of  wheat  were  open  to  cattle  and  lujrses,  houses 
vacant,  and  farms  going  to  waste.  At  Sutter's  there 
was  more  life  and  business.  Launches  were  dischar- 
ging their  cargoes  at  the  river,  and  carts  were  hauling 
goods  to  the  fort,  where  were  already  established  sev- 
eral stores,  a  hotel,  etc.  Captain  Sutter  had  oidy  two 
mechanics  in  his  employ,  whom  he  was  then  paying  ten 
dollars  a  day.  Merchants  pay  him  a  monthly  rent  of 
one  hundred  dollars  per  room ;  and  Avhile  I  was  there  a 
two-story  house  in  the  fort  was  rented  as  a  hotel  for 
live  hundred  dollars  a  month." 


*  El  Dorado.  Kofer  to  p.  14  for  the 
origin  of  \.h\»  name. 

'^  TuE  Wak  hardly  ended.  Con- 
fusion exists  as  to  the  precise  date  of 
the  gold  discovery.  Lariviii  nays,  on  tlie 
spot,  January  or  February.  Uittell,  a 
well-informed  writer,  says  January  10. 
lioyce,  January.  FJancroft  is  not  acces- 
sible as  I  pen  this  note. 

3  Captain  Sutter's  Men.  Some  of 
those  who  were  either  in  his  employ  or 
under  his  military  command,  became 
wealthy  and  influential  citizens  of  the 
State.  Among  them  John  Bidwell,  Pear- 
son B.  Reading,  Samuel  J.  Hensley,  and 
Charles  M.  Weber  may  be  named. 

*  Mormon     Diuuinus.     The    Mor- 


mons- who  were  found  here  by  Mr. 
Larkin  in  June,  probably  came  into 
California  overland  with  Colonel  (.'ooke, 
or  with  Samuel  Brannan  by  sea  in  July, 
1840.  Governor  Mason  reports  them  as 
preparing  to  go  to  Salt  Lake.  See 
Note  5. 

0  The  Two  Newspapers.  Tlie 
"  Califoriiian  "  (later  "  Alta  Califor- 
nia"), first  i)ubliHhed  in  Monterey,  then 
in  San  Francisco;  founded  1S-|()  by  Wal- 
ter Colton  and  Uobert  Semi)le;  edited 
by  Semple  after  its  removal  to  San 
Francisco.  The  "California  Star," 
founded  by  Samuel  Brannan  early  in 
1847,  was  merged  with  the"  California." 
See  Note  4. 


4 


27G 


SWAUMING    THIIOITGH    THE   GOLDEN    GATE. 


SWARMING  THROUGH   THE   GOLDEN   GATE.' 

Meanwhile  tlu^  iireii  of  the  gold-fields  was  beiiiL;- 
rapidly  enlarged  on  all  sides  by  new  discoveries.  Each 
day  had  its  story  of  the  finding  of  some  richer  placer 
for  which  a  general  rush  was  made.  As  time  wore  on, 
g(dd  was  found  in  all  the  streams  which  cut  their  way 
tlu'ough  the  foothills  of  the  great  Sierra.^  By  midsum- 
mer four  thousand  people,  half  of  whom  were  Indians, 
were  washing  for  gold  as  if  it  had  been  the  only  eni- 
j)loyment  of  their  lives. 

By  this  time  too  the  first  guarded  statements  made 
about  the  extent  and  richness  of  the  gold-fields  gave  place 

to  predictions 
asbold  as  they 
were  hard  to 
believe.  For 
instance, Gov- 
ernor Mason, 
who  had  been 
over-cautious 
at  first,  soon 
had  no  hesi- 
tation in  say- 
ing that  there  was  more  gold  in  the  country  than  would 
pay  the  cost  of  the  war  a  hundred  times  over. 

It  is  true  that  flour  was  worth  fifty  dollars  a  barrel, 
at  the  mines,  and  a  common  spade  ten  dollars,  but 
when  even  the  poor  and  degraded  Indians  of  the 
rancherias^  could  afford  the  luxuries  of  life,  the  cost 
of  necessaries  was  of  little  account  to  men  who  thought 
four  golden  ounces  only  a  fair  return  for  a  day's  labor. 


THE    UOLDEN    GATE. 


SWAliMlNCi    TllUULGH    TH  lO   tiOLUEN    (iATK.        277 


This  is  the  story  of  only  a  few  sliort  months,  —  tlio 
preface,  as  one  n)ight  say,  to  the  hir^-er  history.  It 
was  yet  too  soon  for  the  discovery  to  be  known  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  time  was  drawing  near  when  it 
would  be  tlie  one  all-engrosshig  topic  in  evory  handet 
from  Maine  to  Florida. 
Meanwhile  it  spread  to 
all  the  shores  and  isles 
of  the  Pacific.  Dark- 
visaged  Kanakas  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands, 
swarthy  Peruvians  and 
Chilenos,  added  their 
thousands  to  the  already 
composite  character  of 
the  population  of  the 
land  of  gold.  From  the 
Russian  Possessions  in 
the  north,  from  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  in  the  midst 
of  the  Pacific,  the  won- 
drous tale  was  speeding 
on  to  China  and  the 
Australian  Isles.  Then 
with  the  autumnal  rains 
the  first  chapter  of  this  history  of  marvels  was  closed 
for  a  brief  season. 

Authentic  reports  of  the  gold  discovery  first  appeared 
in  the  public  prints  of  the  Atlantic  States  in  the 
autumn.  In  December,  President  Polk  gave  Governor 
^lason's  and  Consul  Larkin's  reports  to  tin;  country. 
From  these  sources  the  story  was  taken  up  and  nudti- 
plied  through  the  myriad  channels  of  j)ublic  and  private 


CUINESE   LAUNDRYMAN. 


HI, 


278        SWAKMING   TIIUOIKJII    TIllO   (lOLDEN    GATE. 


intc'lligonoo,  until  tlio  name  of  C'alifoniia  bccamo  n 
lioiisehohl  word  tlirougliout  all  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  Talisinanic  word  !  It  was  soon  to  entice 
a  million  men  from  their  homes  to  seek  their  fortunes 
among  the  gulelies  of  the  wihl  Sierra. 

Karely  in  the  history  of  the  world  lias  society  been 
so  deci)]y  stirred  to  its  centre.  It  was  like  an  electric 
shock  that  is  felt  throughout  the  whole  social  organiza- 
tion. First  there  was  the  nundjness  of  wonder,  then 
the  fever  of  unwonted  excitemenl  How  to  get  to 
this  hmd  of  gohl,  was  now  the  one  it.tsorbing  question 
of  the  hour.  iS'car  a  thousand  leagues  of  barren  plains 
and  desert  mountains  lay  between  it  and  the  settled 
frontier.  These  could  onlv  be  crossed  after  grass  had 
grown  in  the  spring.  A  still  longer  ocean  journey 
must  be  made  by  crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  over 
the  trail  struck  out  by  the  viceroys  when  Spain  held  the 
keys  of  the  East;  or,  if  the  voyage  were  to  be  made 
round  Cape  Horn,  the  distance  would  be  more  than 
quadrupled.  But  the  thought  of  these  vast  distanc^" 
to  be  traversed  seemed  only  to  add  to  the  general  im- 
patience to  surmount  them.  The  'temper  of  the  public 
mind  was  such  that  it  would  bear  any  thing  but  delay. 
Soon  ships  were  l:tting  out  in  every  port*  of  the  Union 
for  Tampico  or  Vera  Cruz,  for  Chagres,  and  for  the 
long  voyage  round  Cape  Horn.  In  the  seaports  noth- 
ing was  heard  but  the  note  of  preparation.  On  the 
frontier  caravans  were  everywhere  forming  to  go  for- 
ward with  the  appearance  of  the  first  blade  of  grass 
above  ground.  "  Ho  for  California  I "  was  the  cry 
borne  on  every  breeze  that  wafted  ship  after  ship  out 
over  the  wide  ocean  with  her  little  colony  of  gold 
seekers.     "  Ho  for  California !  "  was  the  watchword  of 


SWAHMINC;    Tmj()l'(;il    TIIK    (lOl.DKN    (lAI'i;. 


'21\^ 


tlioso  who  were  biiiviiig  tlic  perils  of  a  winter  jminiey 
across  tli(3  Sierras.  And  "•  Calirnruia  I  "*  was  still  tlie 
answer  of  other  hands  that  were  wendinj^  tlieir  way 
across  tlie  Cordilleras,  in  jjiiths  first  traced  by  Cortez 
aiid  his  conira<les,  to  Acapulco,  San  lilas  or  Mazatlan 
un  the  Pacific.  All  roads  seemed  leading  to  the 
Golden   Gat(?.      Kl    Dorado  was  t'onn<l  at  last. 


'  The  Ooi.nEN  Gate.  "  Appnmcli- 
iiii:  from  llio  xca,  tlio  count  jn-ent'iitH  a 
lioltl  outline.  On  the  south  the  border- 
ing niountiiinB  come  down  in  a  narrow 
ridtfe  of  liroken  IiiIIh,  torniinating  ir,  a 
|irccipilouH  point,  against  wiiich  the  sea 
lireaks  heavily.  On  the  northern  Hide, 
the  mountain  presents  a  bold  i)romon- 
tory,  rising  in  a  few  miles  to  a  height  of 
two  or  three  thousand  feet,  between 
lliese  ]>nints  is  the  strait— about  one 
mile  broad  in  its  narrowest  ])art,  and  five 
miles  long  from  the  sea  to  the  bay.  To 
this  gate  I  gave  the  name  of  Chrysopylac, 
or  (Jolden  (Jate,  for  the  same  reason 
lliat  the  harbor  of  nyzantiu:n  was  called 
Chri/socerds,  or  (Jolden  Horn."  —  Fn'- 
inont.  This  was  prior  to  the  gold  dis- 
covery. The  old  Presidio  was  at  the  end 
of  the  southerly  point. 

-  One  Vast  (Jolu-Field.  Most  of 
the  tributaries   of  the   Sacramento  and 


San  .Toaiiiiin  wrro  soon  tapped,  and 
search  was  even  madeamont;  I  ho  sources 
of  these  rivers  in  the  belief  that  nold 
existed  there  In  virgin  masses,  from 
which  the  particles  found  lower  down 
iiad  been  worn  by  water.  Kager  pro- 
spectors soon  carried  exploration  from 
till"  Trinity  in  the  north,  to  King's  Uiver 
in  the  south. 

8  Indians  OF  THE  RANriiEniAs  were 
employed  in  large  numbers  by  the  whites 
to  wash  gold  for  them.  With  willow  bas 
kets  llfly  Indians  washed  out  in  one  week 
fourteen  pounds  (avoirdupois)  of  gold. 

*  In  l^VEitv  PoitT.  "A  resident  of 
Xew  York  coming  back  after  an  absence 
of  three  months  (this  was  in  January) 
would  be  puzzled  at  seeing  the  word 
'California'  everywhere  staring  him  in 
the  face,  and  at  the  columns  of  vessels 
advertised  to  sail  for  Sun  Francisco."  — 
Xfic  York  Tribune. 


THE  CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS. 

Although  we  have  seen  nnich  doing  there  in  the 
[)revioiis  year,  and  the  earliest  comers  Avere  the  trne 
pioneers,  the  great  rush  to  the  gold  region  took  i)lace 
in  1849,  upon  the  first  news  being  spread  thronghoiit 
the  States.  It  is  therefore  from  that  year  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  gold  fever  is  usually  dated. 

So  great  was  the  demand  for  shipping,  that  even  old 


280 


TIIK   CALIKOJINIA    PIONKEUS. 


wlialc-sliips  woro  fittod   nj>  to  carrv  llii'co  or  four  Imii- 


(Ired  J 


jjisscuj^crs  I'ouiKl   I  ii])('   Horn 


1   ( 


j: 


veil 


tl 


i('S(^  wmv 


(inickiy  crowded  \vi(Ii  cini^rants.  IJiit  (jri3  loii«»;  tlu;  dc- 
iiiand  for  vessels  (liat  would  show  greater  s[)L'ed  ;^av(! 
rise  to  new  models  in  slii[)-l)uildiii<;' ;  and  to  tliis  cause 
we  owe  tlie  fast  (dipjier  ships  which  soinetinies  sailed 
from  New  York  to  San  l^"'raucisc<>  in  eij^hty-seven  days. 

At  lirst  it  was  nnudi  the  I'asiiioii 
for  men  to  t;'o  in  c(im[)anies  foniKMl 
in  their  own  neiuhhoriioods.  Those 
who  could  not  <^()  thems(dves  would 
club  together  and  send  a  suhstitutc 
as  men  may  own  shares  in  a  ship 
or  a  machine,  the  suhstitutt;  beiu^- 
allowed  to  keep  a  certain  share  of 
the  jtroiits  of  his  own  hd)or. 


T\ 


leii,  aii'ani,  a.  nov( 


1 


innearancc 


d'l 


w 


as  given  to  the;  stre(;ts  of  our  sea 
l)ort  towns  by  the  (hiily  pres(MiC(;  in 
them  of  men  (h'essed  in  red  woollen 
shirts,    slonch    hats,    and    cowhide 
boots. 


men    W(!arin<'"   nis 


1' 


<toh 


an<' 


dirl 


A   FATIIEK. 


<s,   or   carrynig    rules 


IK 


wnoni 


it  was  not  easy  to  know  for  [)eace- 
ful  citizens  just  turned  out  of  their  farms  or  workshojjs 
or  countinuf-houses.  Nor  was  tlie  emigration  conlined 
to  tlie  l)one  and  sin(iw  of  society  oidy.     Men  of  every 


walk  in  life  were  drawn  into  it. 


S( 


:hol; 


ir  nuu' 


ht  1 


lave 


a  (hiy-laborer  for  his  companion.  Larkin  has  tcdd  us 
Iiow  this  worked  in  the  mines.  The  one  purpose  to  di^ 
for  gold  ([uickly  [)ut  all  on  an  ecpial  footing,  for  in 
making  lab()r  the  sole  means  of  wealth,  as  in  tla^  begin- 
ning it  was,  the  ccunmon  laborer  had  beuume  the  [)eer 


THE   (CALIFORNIA    TIONEEUS. 


281 


of  llie  most  learned  s(;li(»lar  in  the  land.  Hence  every 
sliiji  and  every  caravan  carried  its  litth;  r('[)ul)li(;  of 
('(quality.  And  iienec  society  seemed  goinq;  back  into 
its  (»ri<^inal  elements,  as  it  gold  were  the  magnet  at- 
tractini''  all  else  to  itself. 

The  sailing  of  many  shi])s,  fnll  freighted  with  eager 
gold-seekers,  was  followed  in  the  early  spring  by  tlu; 
march  of  thonsands  across  the  [)lains.  Like  colonies 
of  migratory  ants  the  long  line  of  wagons  crept  along 
the  roads  leading  to  the  Sonth  Pass  and  Uio  (Jrande. 
At  Salt  Lake;  ("ity,  which  we  have  jnst  seen  founded, 
tin;  weary  emigrants  tarried  a  while  to  recruit  their 
failing  animals  lor  tlu;  dreaded  passage  of  the  desert; 
then  to  the  road  again  to  struggle  evTr  on  through  the 
parched  valleys,  where  their  giiunt  beasts  died  of  thirst, 
or  u[)  the  granit(!  sides 
of  the  Sierras,  where 
they  dropped  from  ex- 
haustion, till  the  Saci'a- 
ramento  Valley  was 
reached  at  last,  jind 
Shasta  Peak  burst  on 
their  enra])tured  sight,  v 
Hundreds  ])erished  l)y 
the  way,  and  long  after 
the  marcth  for  gold  in  1(S49  might  be  traced  by  the 
abandoncMl  wagons  or  dead  animals  that  strewed  its 
l»ath. 

Many  reached  Pan;ima  by  way  of  tlu;  (hagres  River, 
whose  course  led  uj)  to  tiie  mountain  chain  dividing  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  from  those  oi'  the  Pacilic  Day 
by  day  a  motley  tlcet  of  dug-out  canoes  might  have 
been  seen  toiling  with  pole  and   oar  against  the  swift 


mm 


282 


TIIK   (^VLIFOh'NIA    I'lONKKItS. 


current  of  tliis  iiioiintalii  sti'eain.  At  llic,  licad  of  boat 
navigation,  in  an  oj)(!ii  spot,  undor  tlu;  liigli  mountains, 
a  few  cocoanut  ])alnis  liftccl  lufls  of  graceful  foliagi- 
above  a  (dunij)  of  miserable  iiuts,  wIjosc;  owners  weic 
of  mixed  Spanish  and  Indian  blood.  Tliis  was  on  the 
route  the  Spaniards  liad  discov(;red  in  151'>.  This  Mas 
Gorgona. 

Taking  mules  at  (Jorgona  the  (nnigranls  crosscMl  the 
mountains  to  tlie  Pacific;,  which  they  liere  closely  aj)- 

])roaeh.  At  the  ancient 
city  of  Panama,  inter- 
esting oidy  as  a  s})e(u- 
men  of  that  oldei-  civil- 
ization which  had  lun 
its  course,  several  thou- 
sand Americans  ^  were 
_^  soon  waiting  for  ves- 
-    sels   to   tak(;   them    on 


-,r^^:-_^-,  to    ('alifornia.      Every 


,^     crazy  jiulk  that  would 
^-■X^-'W    j],)j^^    |,,^,|    l^,^^^^    |-.^j^p„ 

ON  THE  ouKGoN  TKAii.. ^,p  ))y  earlicr  comers. 

So  these  people  liad  to  stay  at  Panama  through  the 
sickly  season,  tliough  the  deadly  fever  of  the  country 
was  daily  thinning  their  ranks  of  the  bravest  and  l)esl. 
Thus  months  of  weary  waiting  must  ])ass  l)efore  these 
people  could  set  foot  in  the  land  of  gold. 

When  they  did  reach  it^  they  found  San  Francisco'^ 
Ji  city  of  tents  and  shanties  scattered  about  a  grouj) 
of  barren,  wind-swept  sand-hills.  In  the  basin  below, 
formed  l)y  the  curving  shore,  a  licet  of  d(!S(n'tc(l  shi])s 
rode  at  anchor.  Farther  off  rose  the  little  island  of 
Verba  Buena,*  and  still   farther,  beyond   the  leagues  of 


TIIK    CALIKOKNIA    IMONKKUS. 


288 


glittoriiip^  water,  Uk;  riiircrcMl  wall  of  {]\v.  Coast  Range 
gruiidly  (iiKihjsed  tli(;  hay  in  its  (>ii(;ircliiig  arm. 

To  this  pictnrii  now  Jidd  the;  liurry  an<l  conf'nsion 
which  the  heaeli  showed  at  all  hours  of  the;  day,  and 
we  shall  get  a  ra])id  glini])S(!  at  th(^  hunihle  beginnings 
of  the  destined   mart  of   the    Paeilic.     Those  tents  on 


_^*- 


^^AN    FltAN(  IS<  ()   IN    1S45). 

the  ])each  W(;re  the  warehouses  of  the  liiture  metropo- 
lis;  tliose  on  the  hills  were  the  abodes  of  its  wealthiest 
citizens. 

Should  we  follow  th(!  swarm  of  ])oats  seen  every 
liour  ])nshing  off  from  the  beaeh  for  th(»  mines,  they 
would  l(!ad  us  to  tlu;  two  great  inland  waterways  of 
the  country.  On  the  si)(»t  wIkm'c  Sutter  liad  made  liis 
landing-iilace  anotiier  city  had  sprung  into  being.  This 
was  Sacramento.     On   the  San   .Ioa(piin,  where  Weber 


284 


THE   CALIFOUNIA    PlONKEUS. 


liad  made  a  lioiiio  in  1844,  Stockton  was  growing  up. 

These  were  the  two  great  depots  for  the  mines  nortli 

and  south. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  (1849)  the  popu- 

hitioM  of  Califoi'nia  had  run  up  to  twenty-five  thousand. 

The  winter  months,  or,  as  we  shouhl  say  of  this  region, 

the  rainy  season,  everywhere  brouglit  great  suffering  to 

the  badly-housed  and  ill-fed  emigrants,  many  of  wliom 

reached  the  mines  in  a  state 
of  destitution.  There  were 
many  things  even  gold  could 
not  bu}"  or  wealth  command. 
Men  who  had  both  were  glad 
to  get  acorns  to  live  on. 
Many  died  this  first  winter. 
With  the  coming  of  spring 

the  depleted  ranks  were  more  than  filled  by  new  arrivals, 

and  when  January  came  round  p'ain  the  i)ioneers  of 

1849  were  a  hundred  thousand. 


[ 


STATE  A^^Ym^ 


f 


M 


EARLY  COIN. 


1  Two  TnorsAND  Americans. 
"In  settling  an  island  the  flrnt  building 
erected  by  a  Spaniard  will  be  a  cliurcli; 
by  a  Frenchman,  a  fort;  by  a  Dutchman, 
a  warehouse;  and  by  an  Englislnnan,  an 
alehouse."  To  this  it  should  be  added 
that  an  American  would  start  a  news- 
paper. Tlie  detained  Americans  having 
found  at  Panama  an  unused  printing- 
oHice  started  a  paper  called  the  "  Star," 
of  which  .John  A.  Lewis  of  Boston  was 
editor. 

3  When  They  did  reach  it. 
The  schooner  rhiunix  was  a  luindred 
and  fifteen  days  making  the  passage; 
the  Two  Friends,  five  and  a  lialf  months 
going  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco. 

3  San  Fkancihco;    named    for    St. 


Francis  of  Assisi,  founder  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan order,  which  founded  the  Cali- 
fornia missions.  Sec  legend  of  his 
preaching  to  the  birds.  The  Mission  of 
Ban  Francisco  was  situated  two  miles 
from  the  landing-place  on  the  bay,  where 
the  present  city  of  the  name  was  begun. 
At  this  landing  a  custom  house  was  es- 
tablished, and  the  place  called  Verba 
Buena  (sec  Note  4).  The  missionaries 
chose  the  little  Dolores  Valley  because 
it  was  the  sunniest  and  warmest  part  of 
the  peninsula. 

*  Verba  Buena;  first  name  of  San 
Francisco  (see  Note  3) ;  meaning  good 
herb:  now  contimied  in  the  island.  A 
vine  with  a  small  white  flower,  common 
tu  California. 


CALIFORNIA   A   FREE  STATE. 


285 


v^iiig  up. 
Bs  nortli 

le  popu- 
lousand. 
;  rep^ion, 
"eriii^  to 
f  wliom 

a  state 
re  were 
Id  could 
inniand. 
3re  glad 
ive  on. 
winter. 

spring 
rrivals, 
eers  of 


the  Fiai). 
1  the  C'iili. 
il  of  his 
Mission  of 
two  miles 
jay,  where 
ras  Ijegiin. 
se  was  es- 
ed  Verba 
issionaries 
y  because 
8t  part  of 

le  of  Han 

ling  good 

iland.    A 

coninioii 


CALIFORNIA  A  FREE  STATE, 

The  United  States  did  not  set  up  a  Territorial  govern- 
ment in  California  at  once,  but  put  military  governors 
over  it,  who  continued  the  old  laws  of  Mexico  in  force. 
What  these  were,  only  the  native  people  could  know. 
They  had  not  yet  been  translated  into  English.  Many, 
indeed,  derided  the  idea  of  being  governed  by  laws 
made  for  Spaniards.  Instead,  then,  of  being  clothed 
with  power  to  enact  laws  suited  to  the  new  and  strange 
conditions  growing  out  of  the  gold  discovery,  with 
society  unformed,  or  breaking  to  pieces  about  them, 
the  people  of  California  found  themselves  living  almost 
without  law,  except  such  as  imperative  need  compelled 
them  to  make  and  enforce  for  themselves.  This  state 
of  things  could  have  but  one  result  among  a  peoi)le 
hastily  thrown  together  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
most  of  whom  were  law-abiding,  but  many  the  outcasts 
of  society.  It  led  to  confusion,  lawlessness,  and  crime. 
In  the  annals  of  the  State  it  is  usually  called  the  inter- 
regnum, from  the  Latin  word  signifying  a  suspension 
of  the  regular  functions  of  government. 

Therefore,  as  the  actual  laws  remained  either  mostly 
unknown,  or  were  held  in  little  esteem,  the  people  con- 
formed to  them  only  so  far  as  to  give  the  officers  or 
courts  they  chose  among  themselves  Spanish  names. 
They  everywhere  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands, 
establishing  such  local  laws,  or  usages  having  the  force 
of  laws,  as  their  situation  would  seem  to  give  warrant 
for. 

Thus,  the  miners  determined  for  themselves  how  much 
room  each  man  should  have  to  dig  in  ;  and  they  estab- 


286 


CALIFORNIA   A   FREE   STATE. 


lislied  ill  tluMT  camps  rude  codes  of  justice  by  wliicli 
the  W'U'st  eriines  usually  uiet  with  prompt  punisliment. 
If,  for  instance,  a  man  committed  murder,  he  would 
be  tried  on  the 
spot  by  a  min- 
ers' court,  hast- 
ily summoned 
for  the  purpose. 


HYDRAULIC   MINING. 


Trials  of  this 
sort  were  gen- 
erally con- 
ducted in  an 
orderly  man- 
ner, and  sel- 
dom failed  of  douig  justice,  but  they  were  always  felt  to 
be  a  departure  from  the  usages  of  civilized  people,  and 
in  so  far  a  going-back  toward  barbarism. 

Much  disorder  brings  with  it  much  order.     Informed 
of  all  the  evils  to  which  this  state  of  affairs  gave  rise. 


CALIFORNIA   A   FREE   STATE. 


287 


3y  wliicli 
usliiiionl. 
le  would 


'^l 


a  of  this 
i^ere  gen- 
coii- 
d  in  an 
ly  man- 
and  sel- 
s  felt  to 
pie,  and 

1  formed 
,ve  rise. 


(lovernor  Kiley,  in  1840,  calhMl  {\w  people  to  meet  in 
convention  for  tlu;  forming  ot  a  State  governmeiU.  The 
(Udegates  accordingly  assend)led  in  Septendjer  at  Mon- 
terey. They  framed  a  constitntion,  on  the  plan  of  tlie 
free  States,  prohibiting  slavery  ;  for  as  labor  was  to  be 
tlie  corner-stone  of  the  State,  the  men 
of  1849  W(ndd  not  degrade  free  labor 
by  com])etition  witli  slave- 
la])or.  In  Novendjcr  the 
constitntion  was  ratified 
by  the  people  ;  and  in  De- 
cember the  officers  elected 
under  it  met  at  San  Josd 
to  fnlly  organize  the  State 
government. 

The  petition  of  Califor- 
nia to  be  a  free  State  was 
strongly  resisted  by  the 
Southern  men  in  Congress, 
who  had  hoped  it  would 
come  in  as  a  slave 
State.  Once  again  .::^^^== 
it  l)rought  up  the 
whole  snbject  of 
slavery  extension. 
Eventually  the 
struggle  gave  rise 
to  another  compromise  by  which  California  came  in  as 
a  free  State  (1850),  the  slave-trade  was  abolished  in  the 
District  of  Coknnbia,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  passed, 
mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Henry  Clay.  The  execution  of 
the  last-named  law  roused  tlie  indignation  of  the  North 
as  nothinfj  had  ever  vet  done.     Hesistance  to  slavery 


CHICKEN-VENDER. 


288 


CALIFORNIA    A    FHKE   STATE. 


extension  was  now  become  the  doininant  <|nestion  (licio 
in  politics,  in  litenitnn;,  and  in  the  pul[)it.  Tlie  doc- 
trine thai  the  people  of  a  territory  alone  shonld  have 
the  rijf'ht  to  decide  whether  thev  wonld  have  slavery 
or  not  had  been  urged  with  nineh  force  by  Senator 
Douglas  in  the  case  of  (*alifornia;  and  thus  popular 
sovereignty,  as  it  w^as  called,  now  first  brought  together 
the  nu)derate  partisans  of  slavery,  those  indifferent  to 
its  extension,  and  those  who  believed  such  a  settlement 
as  Mr.  Douglas  proposed  would  lift  the  question  out 
of  i)arty  agitation,  and  so  put  a  stop  to  the  threats  of 
secession,  which  was  the  bugbear  of  all  who  loved  the 
Union. 


ARIZONA. 

A  DISPUTE  having  arisen  with  Mexico  about  the 
boundary  the  war  had  established,  President  Pierce 
settled  it  by  buying  the  territory  in  question  (1853) 
for  ten  millions  of  dollars.  General  James  Gadsden 
negotiated  its  transfer,  and  for  him  it  was  called  the 
Gadsden  Purchase.  The  United  States  thus  acquired 
the  strip  of  country  lying  between  the  Gila  River  and 
the  present  southern  boundary  of  Arizona.  Prior  to 
its  purchase  it  had  formed  part  of  the  IMexican  State 
of  Sonora.  Mr.  Gadsden  exerted  himself  to  secure 
with  it  the  port  of  Guaymas  on  the  Gulf  of  California, 
but  was  not  sustained  by  Congress  in  his  effort  to  do  so. 

At  the  period  of  its  cession  to  us  Arizona  was  practi- 
cally unknown  except  to  hunters  and  trappers  or  to  the 
few  who  had  read  the  accounts  of  the  early  Spanish 
explorers.  Mr.  Gadsden  was  ridiculed  for  making  the 
purchase,  and  Congress  censured  for  squandering  the 


ARIZONA. 


280 


pc'ophi's  inoiK'V  iilxtn  ;m  Jirid  waslc  di'slilud'  ol'  sulli- 
cient  wood  and  .vater  to  sustain  a  jjopidatioii  oF  civil- 
ized beings.  The  faiUne  of  the  S[)aniaids  to  found  any 
considerable  settlements  was  dwelt  upon.  Stories  of 
mines  of  fabulous  wealth  that  Arizona  held  locked  up 
in  her  mountains  had  indeed  come  down  from  a  remote 
time,  and  were  more  or  less  current  abroad,  but  few 


MISSION    SAN    XAVIEU  DEL   BAC,    NEAU  TUCSON. 

believed  in  them,  or  could  see  any  compensating  advan- 
tage to  accrue  to  us  for  the  millions  Congress  had 
spent.  Government,  however,  caused  the  territory 
immediately  to  be  surveyed  with  the  view  of  settling 
the  question  whether  we  had  or  had  not  been  cheated 
in  making  the  purchase. 


i 


II. 


THE    CONTEST    FOR    FREE    SOIL. 


THE   KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE. 

\  T  the  period  now  readied  })y  our  story  the  political 
-^  sense  of  the  people,  in  all  things  touching  the 
national  life,  was  represented  by  the  Whig  and  Deino- 
cratic  parties.  There  was  yet  another  body  formed  to 
prevent  the  coming  in  of  any  more  slave  States,  and 
therefore  called  the  Free-Soil  party.  This  last  party 
had  only  come  into  being  since  the  war  with  Mexico, 
and  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to  successfully  cope  with 
the  older  ones  for  control  in  national  affairs ;  but  it  was 
gi'owing  stronger  every  day. 

Neither  of  the  two  great  parties  was  divided  by 
geographical  lines.  Both  called  themselves  national 
parties,  but  since  the  extension  of  slavery  was  become 
the  vital  question  of  the  hour,  the  Whig  party  was 
losing  ground  to  the  Free-Soil  party,  which  indeed 
mostly  grew  up  from  the  defection  of  those  Whigs  who 
determined  henceforth  to  stand  with  the  opponents  of 
slavery  until  that  question  should  be  settled  forever. 
So  while  the  Whig  party  was  strongest  in  the  free 
States,  it  was  beginning  to  go  to  pieces  because  it  no 
longer  represented  the  growing  feeling  against  slavery 
in  those  States,  though  it  was  still  led  bv  able  states- 

290 


THE    KANSAS-NKHHASKA    STIirGiJLK. 


291 


iniMi  like  Daniel  WcbsttT,  vvlioin  tliu  ((Hiiitrv  liad 
always  looked  to  in  the  past  fur  safe;  counsel  and  giiid- 
anc'j  througli  all  the  [)eiils  of  party  stiil'u. 

The  l)eiiioerati(!  purty,  <>n  the  contrary,  heing  most 
numerous  in  the  slaveholding  States,  was  more  lirmly 
united  than  ever  by  the  agitation  about  slavery,  which 
their  great  leader,  C^alhoun,  had  told  them  could  only 
])e  maintained  by  being 
extended,  and  could  only 
be  extended  by  becoming 
aggressive. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the 
political  situation  after 
the  admission  of  Califor- 
nia, in  a  nutshell.  In 
the  South  the  Democratic 
party  stood  solid  and  de- 
liant  in  support  of  slav- 
ery extension  ;  in  the 
North  it  favored  popular 
sovereignty,  as  deiined 
by  Mr.  Douglas.  The 
Free-Soil  party  declared 
its  purpose  to  oppose  the  making  of  any  more  slave 
States,  and  under  the  lead  of  Sumner  of  Massachu- 
setts, Chase  of  Ohio,  and  Seward  of  New  York,  pre- 
pared to  make  head  against  its  formidable  opponents. 
The  Whigs  were  now  looked  upon  as  the  party  of  vacil- 
lation, weakness,  and  compromise.  Though  in  nominal 
opposition  to  the  Democrats,  its  leadership  was  no 
longer  trusted,  because  it  was  felt  to  have  surrendered 
the  one  principle  ^  on  which  the  coming  struggle  inevita- 
l)lv  would  turn. 


KTEPUEN  A.  DUUOLAa. 


292 


TIIIC    KANSAS-NEBRASKA    STRUGGLK. 


Tlie  DciiKKTiilic  piirly  H!icc;e(!(U'(l  in  ('lec!tiii<^  Franklin 
Piui'co'"^  In  (Ik;  I'li'siileiicy,  tor  tho  term  niiiiiiiig  I'loiu 
1858  to  l<sr)7. 

His  ii(liniiiistniti()ii  is  cliiefly  inemoi'iible  for  the  }»as- 
sage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  by  whieh  two  new- 
Territories  were  formed  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  and 
thrown  ojjen  to  settlement.  In  framing  this  Act  its 
authors  left  it  to  the  people  to  choose  for  themselves 
whether  they  would  have  slavery  or  not,  as  Douglas 
lU'ged  they  should ;  and  in  order  that  they  might  do  so, 
the  compromise  of  1820  was  set  aside.  This  measure 
was  largely  the  work  of  Mr.  Doughis,  who,  arguing  that 
the  people  are  sovereigns,  viewed  a  reference  of  the 
slavery  question  back  to  them,  as  the  only  true  way  of 
settling  the  agitation  about  it.  It  had  a  certain  fair- 
l)lay  look  that  won  many  to  its  support  in  the  North. 
In  this  form  Congress  passed  the  Act,  May  30,  1854. 

To  repeal  the  jNIissouri  Compromise,  was  held  by  many 
at  the  North  and  some  at  the  Soutli,^  to  be  a  violation 
of  the  pledge  so  sacredly  made  to  the  wliole  people, 
not  to  admit  slavery  north  of  36°  30'.  We  shall  see 
what  it  led  to. 

Let  us  look  first  at  the  new  Territories  as  the  organic 
Act  found  them.  From  the  Missouri  on  the  east,  they 
reached  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west.  They 
contained  the  most  fertile  lands  of  the  public  domain. 
The  great  thoroughfares  to  Oregon,  California,  and 
New  IMexico,  traversed  them  in  their  whole  length,  so 
making  it  clear,  even  at  this  early  day,  that  the  great 
movement  of  the  people  from  east  to  west  must  he 
along  the  lines  of  these  thoroughfares,  strewing  its 
pathway  with  populous  cities  and  towns  as  it  went. 

Already  we  have  led  the  explorers  through  this  ni;ig- 


Tin-:    IvANSAa-NEnUASKA    STRUOGLK. 


293 


iiificent  land.  Through  tluMii  much  kuowUvlge  liad 
hc'CM  gained  of  its  natural  features,  its  Ihie  climate,  and 
of  the  unequalled  feeundity  of  its  soil.  The  West  was 
its  neighhor  and  knew  most  about  it.  The  East  knew  it 
oidy  through  the  accounts  of  Pike,  Long,  and  Fremont, 
from  the  reports  of  emigrants,  or  in  the  stories  of  travel 
written  by  Irving,  Latrobe  and  others,  all  of  which 
gave  it  a  kind  of  romantic  interest  with  their  readers. 

Upon  the  virgin  soil  of  Kansas  the  fragments  of 
many  of  the  one-time  powerful  red  nations  of  the  East 
had  been  colonized.  Here,  at  last,  we  meet  again  the 
Wyandots  of  Lake  Huron,'*  the  Delawares  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies, 
Shawnees,  Kickapoos,  Piankeshaws  and  other  Avarlike 
peoples  whose  race  as  nations  had  been  run.  To  this 
l)oint  they  had  at  length  been  rolled  back  by  the  ever- 
advancing  tide  of  white  emigration.  They  probably 
far  outnumbered  the  original  owners  of  the  soil,  —  the 
Missouris,  Kansas,  Otoes,  Pawnees,  Osages,  —  and  all 
maintained  their  tribal  organization  unimpaired  within 
the  limits  Government  had  set  for  them.  Here  these 
wrecks  of  once  powerful  peoples  peacefully  lived  on 
the  bounty  of  the  nation  which  had  told  them  Kansas 
was  to  be  their  permanent  home. 

Among  most  of  these  tribes  missions  and  schools  had 
l)een  planted  by  various  religious  denominations.  One 
of  the  richest  and  seemingly  most  prosperous  ones  was 
that  founded  by  the  Methodists  ^  among  the  Shawnees, 
who  were  half-civilized,  and  also  held  a  few  slaves. 

To  protect  its  emigrants  who  were  constantly  passing 
over  the  great  routes  toward  the  Pacific,  (fovernment 
had  established  the  military  posts  of  Fort  Leavenworth^ 
on  the  Missouri,  Fort  Kiley  at  the  junction  of  the  two 


liil 


204 


THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 


chief  branches  of  the  Kansas,  and  Fort  Kearney  on  the 
Platte.  Fort  Scott  was  also  founded  in  the  south,  on 
the  road  leading  to  the  Indian  Territory. 

Set  against  these  new  Territories  were  two  States, 
—  one  slave  and  the  other  free.  It  was  thought  that 
Kansas  would  niostl}'  take  her  settlers  from  Missouri, 
and  so  easily  be  a  slave  State,  while  Nebraska  in  a  like 
manner  would  become  a  free  State  through  the  inllu- 
ence  of  Iowa,  its  neighbor.  Moreover  the  soil  and 
climate  of  Kansas  were  thought  favorable  to  the  em- 
ployment of  slave  labor,  while  Nel)raska  was  considered 
to  lie  north  of  the  line  beyond  wliicli  such  labor  could 
be  made  profitable.  Hence  it  was  to  Kansas  that  the 
efiforts  of  those  favoring  slavery  were  turned ;  and  as 
the  best  part  of  it  was  occupied  by  Indians,  their  re- 
moval or  restrict)  ii^  within  smaller  tracts  was  provided 
for,  so  making  way  for  the  coming  settlement. 


«    SlRRENnEKED     THE     PRINCIPLE. 

The  two  great  Whig  leaders,  Webster 
and  Clay,  advocaled  the  compromise 
ineasHrcs  of  1S50.  Clay  was  a  Southern 
man,  though  no  slavery  propagandist, 
like  Calhoun;  but  Webster,  a  Xorthern 
man,  disappointed  manj*  of  his  constitu- 
ent!', and  lost  his  old  influence  over  them 
from  that  time  onward. 

*  Fraxkli.n  Pierce  was  a  native  of 
New  Hampshire,  a  lawyer  by  profession, 
who  had  sened  i:»  the  Mexican  War. 
He  wai4  not  in  the  front  \nk  of  Demo- 
cratic etatesmen,  but  was  selected  as  a 
compromise  candidate,  after  thirty-fix  e 
balloti<  had  been  divided  between  Cass, 
Doughi«,  and  Buchanan. 

•■'  SoxB  IN  THE  SoirTii.  BcHton  of 
Missouri  and  Houston  of  Texas  opposed 
tlie  repeal. 

*  Wy.\xdots  of  Fj.^ke  Huron. 
rx>ok  back  to  "  Westward  by  the  (heat 
Waterways."  For  the  other  tribes,  see 
index. 


•'■'  Methodist  Mission.  This  was  a 
mission  of  the  Methodist  Church  South. 
Other  missions  of  this  denomination 
were  planted  among  the  Omahas,  Kick- 
apoos,  Kansas,  and  Delawares.  The 
Baptists  and  Quakers  also  had  missions 
among  the  Shawnces,  the  Baptists  to 
the  Delawares,  and  the  Catholics  (St. 
Mary's)  among  tlio  Kansas. 

«  Fort  I.eavenworth,  founded  by 
Colonel  Henry  Leavenworth,  1827,  for 
whom  it  is  named.  It  was  the  great 
frontier  depot  of  supi)ly  for  tlie  other  mil- 
itary posts  on  tlie  Santa  Fe  and  Oregon 
routes,  which  w»re  converted  into  mil- 
itary roads  by  Government.  Forts  Riley, 
Kearney,  and  Scott,  were  similarly 
named  for  General  Bennet  Ililcy  (mili- 
tary governor  of  California),  (ieneral 
Stephen  W.  Kearney  (conqueror  of  Xew 
Mexico),  and  General  Winfield  Scott 
(conqueror  of  Old  Mexico). 


IGLE. 


KANSAS   THE    BATTLE-GROUND. 


295 


Lcariiey  on  the 
the  south,  on 

re  two  States, 
>  thought  tliat 
Toni  Missouri, 
■aska  in  a  like 
iugh  the  inihi- 
the  soil  and 
)le  to  the  em- 
vas  considered 
3h  labor  could 
msas  that  the 
u'ued ;  and  as 
[ians,  their  re- 
was  provided 
lent. 

klissioN.  This  was  a 
jodiist  ChiiiTh  South, 
f  this  deiioiui nation 
ig  the  Oniahas,  Kicli- 
1(1  Delawaics.  Tlio 
;rs  also  liad  missions 
lees,  the  Baptists  to 
d   the  Catholics    (St. 

Kansas. 
<\V()KTii,  founded  by 
^venwortli,  1S27,  for 
1.  It  was  tho  great 
pply  for  the  other  mi  1- 
'anta  Fe  and  Oregou 
;  converted  into  mil- 
rnment.  Forts  Riley, 
jtt,    were     similarly 

Beunet  Ililey  (mili- 
California),  General 
y  (conqueror  of  Xew 
leral  Winiield  Scott 
Mexico). 


KANSAS   THE    BATTLE-GROUND. 

When  Congress  decreed  that  freedom  and  slavery 
sliould  compete  for  control  in  Kansas,  the  decision 
reminds  ns  of  the  judgment  given  by  the  wise  king  of 
history,  who,  having  to  decide  which  of  two  mothers  a 
t'liild  belonged  to,  ordered  one  of  his  gnards  to  cut  it  in 
two  with  his  sword,  and  give  the  half  to  each  claimant. 

In  tliis  contest  Congress  and  the  President  stood  with 
tlie  South.  The  law-making  power  had  first  removed 
every  restriction  to  making  Kansas  a  slave  State,  and 
now  the  exec  tive  branch  was  to  appoint  governors^ 
over  the  people  who  should  go  there  to  live,  and  give 
orders  to  the  military  commanders  to  aid  them  when 
called  upon  to  do  so. 

There  was  another  very  potent  means  working  to  the 
same  end,  wliicli  in  tlie  liands  of  lawless  men  proved  a 
serious  oljstacle  to  the  peaceful  going-in  of  settlers  from 
the  free  States.  The  great  avenue  of  travel  into  the 
disputed  territory  was  the  Missouri  River,  whose  banks 
were  alrejidy  lined  with  a  population  liolding  many 
slaves,  and  therefore  easily  aroused  to  active  enmity  by 
the  fear  that  the  planting  of  a  free  State  next  their 
border  would  cause  their  negroes  to  run  away,  and  so 
dex^rive  them  of  their  property.  Moreover,  as  we  have 
already  said,  the  Missourians  had  confidently  looked 
upon  Kansas  as  theirs  whenever  it  should  be  o[)ened  to 
settlement,  and  could  not  bear  the  thoufjht  of  havino'  it 
snatched  from  them  by  a  people  whose  politics  they 
detested,  and  whose  presence  they  feared. 

Under  these  conditions  the  movement  of  settlers  into 
Kansas  beixaii   at   the  North   and    Stnith.      It   was  no 


296 


KANSAS   THK    JJATTLIXJIIOUND. 


peaceful  iiiarcli  of  peaceful  citizens  under  the  protect- 
ing hand  of  the  nation,  but  was  turned  by  sectional 
rivalry  into  a  political  crusade.  Public  meetings  were 
held  all  over  the  North  and  South  to  encourage  the 
going  of  the  adventurous  young  men  of  both  sections, 
as  in  time  of  war.  Sectional  passions  were  aroused  and 
inflamed.  Large  sums  were  raised  in  the  churches  to 
arm  these  emigrants  for  the  conflict  which  it  was  clear 
must  take  place  sooner  or  later.     So  the  war  of  the 

sections     that 
f  \    ;'  \- P  „/-y'.',    .'/u/!.      I     so     long    had 

threatened  the 
national  peace 
was  begun  at 
last.  Congress 
had  left  the 
question  tothe 
people  to  set- 
tle, less  in  the 
spirit  of  states- 
manship than 
as  a  way  out  of 
the  difficulty ; 

and  the  people,  seeing  that  its  peaceful  settlement  was 
impossible,  were  getting  ready  to  fight  it  out,  not  with 
the  ballot  as  Douglas  believed  they  would,  but  as  men 
who  are  convinced  that  force,  and  force  only,  can  decide 
the  justice  of  their  cause. 

Missourians  began  the  settlement  of  Kansas.  June, 
1854,  Leavenworth  ^  was  laid  out  two  miles  below  the 
fort  of  that  name.  Another  town  was  also  begun 
twenty-five  miles  farther  uj)  the  Missouri,  and  named 
for  Senator  Atchison'^  of  Missouri.     Tiiese  two,  witli  St. 


A  squatter's  improvements. 


KANSAS   THE   BATTLE-GROUND. 


297 


Joso])!!  on  the  north  and  Kansas  City  on  the  soutli,  not 
only  controlled  all  the  river-front  of  Kansas,  bnt  the 
roads  leading  into  it  as  well,  as  St.  Joseph  and  Kansas 
City  Avere  the  established  starting-points  for  crossing 
the  plains,  from  which  the  great  overhmd  routes 
diverged.  Missouri  settlers  also  shortly  began  a  third 
town,  in  the  Kansas  Valley,  to  which  they  gave  the 
iiiinie  of  Lecompton,**  and  soon 
made  it  the  capital  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

Thus  the  North  entered  the 
(M)ntlict  to  obtain  control  of 
Kansas  under  every  disadvan- 
tage which  remoteness,  prior 
occupation,  or  unyielding  de- 
termination to  exclude  all  who 
(lid    not   favor   slaveiy,   could 


■"^■^ 


8TKEKT,    KANSAS   CITV,    1SJ7. 


bring  into  it. 

New  England  was  the  focus 
of  anti- slavery  thought  and 
action,  to  which  the  rest  of  the  North  undoubtedly 
looked  for  leadership.  It  was,  therefore,  in  New  Eng- 
land that  active  steps  for  throwing  free-State  settlers 
into  Kansas  first  originated.  This  was  effected  through 
an  association  known  as  the  New-England  Emigrant 
Aid  Company,''  which  was  the  parent  or  forerunner  of 
many  similar  ones  subsequently  organized  throughout 
the  free  States.  The  New-England  Company  acted 
with  much  method.  It  formed  little  colonies  which 
were  put  under  compet(;nt  leaders,  were  furnished  with 
farming-tools,  and  even  took  out  saw-mills  for  the 
making  of  new  settlements.  Some  colonists  took  their 
families  along  with   them,  but  most  of  the  first  comers 


298 


KANSAS    THE    BATTLE-GROUND. 


were  single  men  whom  the  desire  to  see  Kansas  a  free 
State,  latlier  than  a  thoughtless  spirit  of  adventure, 
took  from  the  orderly  communities  of  the  Far  East.  To 
this  work  they  confidently  went  forth  accompanied 
by  the  prayers  and  good  wishes  of  tlieir  friends  and 
neighbors,  though  as  little  used  to  the  rude  encounter 


I.AWUENCE,   KANSAS 


with  border  men  and  border  life  as 
the  two  kinds  of  civilization  each  pre- 
sented in  itself  were  removed  one  from  the  other. 
These  emigrants  made  a  lodgement  in  the  Kansas 
Valley,  where  they  founded  Lawrence^  (August,  1854), 
Topeka,  Manhattan,  and  Wabaunsee.  I^ater  settlements 
were  begun  along  the  Osage  waters,  of  which  Osawato- 
mie  was  the  chief,  and  most  famous  in  the  annals  of 
Kansas. 


KANSAS   THI<:    liATTLE-CJ ROUND. 


209 


niisas  a  free 
atlveiiture, 
i-East.  To 
eoompaiiied 
friends  and 
encounter 


The  directing  head  of  this  free-State  movement  on  the 
spot  was  Charles  Robinson,  than  wliom  no  more  litting 
rei^resentative  of  the  spirit  of  liis  mission,  or  one  pos- 
sessed of  the  ability  to  make  head  against  the  multiplied 
ditliculties  of  time  and  place,  could  well  have  been  chosen. 


1  Governors  of  Kansas.  In  four 
years  KiiiiKas  had  five  governors;  viz., 
Keeiler,  Shannon,  deary,  Wallier,  and 
Denver.  Keeder  refused  to  enforce  the 
bogus  Territorial  laws,  and  was  re- 
moved. Sliannon  tried  to  put  down  the 
free-State  movement,  but  resigned  in 
despair.  Geary  fell  into  line  with  it, 
had  liis  life  threatened,  and  fled  the  Ter- 
ritory in  disguise.  Walker  proved  too 
honest  to  sustain  fraudulent  voting,  and 
left  the  Territory  when  he  found  himself 
deserted  by  those  who  sent  him  there. 
Denver  found  the  controversy  practi- 
cally settled  in  favor  of  a  free  State. 
Kansas  was  therefore  not  inaptly  called 
the  "  graveyard  "  of  governors. 

2  LEAVENWoitTH  is  finely  enclosed 
by  a  liigh  ridge  on  the  west  which  forms 
a  natural  amphitheatre.  Its  site  is  hardly 
surpassed  by  that  of  any  city  of  the  Mis- 
souri Valley.  Its  vicinity  to  the  fort 
soon  made  it  the  first  commercial  city  of 
Kansas,  as  it  was  the  most  populous. 
Kansas  missed  the  golden  opportunity 
for  having  a  great  city  within  her  own 
borders. 


3  Senator  David  li.  Atchison 
was  the  head  of  the  pro-slavery  move- 
ment on  the  spot.  Atchison  was  the 
residence  of  Senators  Samuel  C.  Porae- 
roy  and  John  J.  Ingalls,  and  is  now  a 
thriving  city. 

*  Lecompton  took  Its  name  from 
Samuel  D.  Lecompto,  Supreme  Terri- 
torial Judge  of  Kansas. 

0  New-England  Emigrant  Aid 
Company  was  a  chartered  organization 
under  the  laws  of  Massachusetts.  Its 
history  is  being  written  by  Eli  Thayer, 
one  of  its  earliest  promoters.  The  men 
who  composed  it  were  representative  of 
the  anti-slavery  sentimental  large,  rather 
than  as  politicians.  All  were  of  unim- 
peachable character.  Tlieir  colonies  were 
the  embodiment  of  the  New-England 
idea,  as  interpreted  by  the  motto  of 
Massachusetts,  "  Eiise  petit  pbicklum 
Hub  libertate  quietam  :  "  — 
"This  hand,  the  rule  of  tyrants  to  oppose, 
Seeks  with  the  sword  fair  freedom's 
soft  repose." 

•■'  Lawrence,  named  for  Amos  A. 
Lawrence  of  Massachusetts. 


lie  other. 
le  Kansas 
ist,  1854), 
Jttlements 
Osawato- 
annals  of 


THE    BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 

It  was  the  doom  of  slavery  that  it  should  require  the 
destruction  of  every  thing  that  stood  in  its  way.  This 
l)eing  conceded,  a  resort  to  lawlessness  —  more  espe- 
cially on  the  part  of  a  rude  i)opulation  like  that  of  the 
Missouri  border  —  was  sure  to  foUow  the  attempt  to 
set  up  a  free  comnu)nwealth  m  Kansas. 


300 


THJ]   IJATTLK   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 


From  the  moment  the  organic  Act  became  law,  the 
futiiie  of  Kansas  was  ever  and  foremost  a  national  ques- 
tion. The  Southern  leaders  had  told  the  Missourians, 
if  they  would  not  see  political  power  wrested  from  the 
South,  they  must  secure  Kansas  to  slavery  at  any  cost. 
The  North  had  met  the  challenge  in  the  words  of 
Senator  Seward,  who  said,  "  Come  on,  then,  gentlemen 
of  the  slave  States !     Since  there  is  no  escaping  your 

,.  _.. ..     .  _  challenge,  I  ac- 

cept it  in  be- 
half offreedom. 
We  will  engage 
in  competition 
for  the  virgin 
soil  of  Kansas, 
and  God  give 
the  victory  to 
the  side  that  is 
stronger  in 
numbers,  as  it 
is  in  the  right." 
The  people  of  Western  Missouri,  of  whom  glimpses 
have  been  given  in  former  chapters,  w^ere  typical  Amer- 
ican borderers,  rude  of  manner  and  speech,  scarcely 
touched  by  the  refining  influences  of  the  older  East, 
open-handed  and  hospitable  to  a  fault,  but  capable  of 
committing  brutal  excesses  when  their  passions  "were 
aroused,  as  they  now  were  by  the  overwrought  appeals 
of  their  most  trusted  leaders  to  make  an  end  of  aboli- 
tionism, if  they  would  not  see  it  become  a  menace  to 
their  domestic  peace,  —  Jin  incitement  to  insurrection 
or  ceaseless  turbulence  along  their  border.  Their  char- 
acter maybe  guessed  from  the  name  which  in  a  spirit  of 


THE  FERRY,  LAWRENCE,  KANSAS. 


THE    BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND    WON. 


301 


lie  law,  the 
ioiial  ques- 
issourians, 
I  from  tlie 
t  any  cost. 

words  of 
gentlemen 
iping  your 
enge,  I  ac- 

it  in  be- 
)f  freedom, 
vill  engage 
jmpetition 
i;he  virgin 
)f  Kansas, 
God  give 
victory  to 
ide  that  is 
n g e r  in 
)ers,  as  it 
;he  right." 

glimpses 
cal  Amer- 
,  scarcely 
der  East, 
apable  of 
ions  were 
it  appeals 

of  aboli- 
lenace  to 
iurrection 
lieir  cliar- 
i  spirit  of 


bravado  they  took  from  their  ojjponents'  mouths,  — tliat 
of  border  rullians.  Tiiey  were  expert  with  the  ritle, 
daring  riders,  accustomed  to  out-of-door  life  from  in- 
fancy, and  hardened  by  experiences  drawn  from  the 
vicissitudes  of  frontier  life,  into  the  bone  of  a  self-assert- 
ing Americanism  of  the  Davy  Crockett  school.  Then, 
inasmuch  as  public  opinion  justified  the  settlement  of 
private  (piarrels  with  the  pistol  or  bowie-knife,  the 
taking  of  life  was  held  cheaply  as  compared  with  com- 


\>^ 


.  .yf 


-^=.— ^^^^se^^^^Vt^Bi; 


A   HQUATTEB  MOVING  UIS   CLAIM. 

munities  where  the  enforcement  of  law  is  the  safeguard 
of  the  citizen.  Add  to  this  the  frontiersman's  habitual 
scorn  for  those  reared  in  cities,  or  who  shunned  a  resort 
to  violence  in  support  of  their  principles,  and  we  have 
the  measure  of  those  adversaries  whom  the  free-State 
men  of  the  North  were  to  face  on  their  own  ground, 
and  with  their  own  weapons  in  their  hands. 

The  events  flowing  from  this  state  of  things  may  be 
briefly  summed  up. 

While  the  free-State  movement  was  steadily  gaining 


302 


THE  BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 


ground  by  the  c()iniu<jf-iii  of  aetiuil  settlors,  the  Missouri- 
juis  inade  deteriiiiiied  elTorts  to  stay  it,  lirst  by  seizing 
upon  the  government  of  tlie  Territory,  and  next  by 
intimidating  or  driving  out  all  who  opposed  their  law- 
less acts.  Thus  an  election  lor  members  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  (March,  1855)  was  controlled  by  jVIissouri- 
ans  who,  in  the  most  open  manner,  came  into  the  voting- 
precincts  \\:th  arms,  cast  their  ballots  unchallenged,  and 
then  went  home  again  to  Missouri,  so  returning  a  law- 
making body  by  unlawful  votes.  This  Legislature 
enacted  laws  establishing  slavery.  The  free-State  men 
refused  to  recognize  it  or  its  laws.  Tlicy  proceeded  to 
form  a  constitution  ^  prohibiting  slavery,  with  which 
they  asked  admission  into  the  Union.  They  also  elected 
State  ofhcers,  and  a  legislature  which  they  meant  to  put 
in  operatioii  if  worst  came  to  worst.  Meantime  they 
organized  themselves  to  repel  force  with  force  if  neces- 
sary. All  those  who  were  opposed  to  making  Kansas 
a  slave  State,  now  canui  together  as  the  free-State 
party. 

This  party,  which  had  just  elected  Charles  Robinson 
governor,  refused  to  pay  taxes,  obey  writs,  or  in  any 
way  abide  by  the  acts  of  the  so-called  bogus  legislature. 
The  pro-slavery  party  declared  this  treason.  Congress 
rejected  the  Topeka  Constitution,  the  House  voting  for 
its  admission,  the  Senate  against  it. 

In  consequence  of  the  rescue  of  a  free-State  man  from 
the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  Lawrence  was  soon  besieged  by 
a  large  force  of  Missourians,  assembled  under  color  of 
law,  but  in  reality  invaders  of  the  Territory.  The  peo- 
ple of  Lawrence  prepared  to  make  a  sturdy  defence  by 
building  earth-forts  at  all  the  approaches  to  the  town, 
in  which  men  armed  with  Sharpe's  rifles  were  constantly 


THE   15ATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 


303 


» IMissouri- 
by  seizing 
I  next  by 

their  law- 
Territorial 
'  jNIissouri- 
the  voting 
engetl,  and 
ng  a  law- 
^egislatiirc 
State  men 
oceeded  to 
'ith  which 
Iso  elected 
'ant  to  put 
itime  they 
e  if  neces- 
ng  Kansas 

free-State 

Robinson 
or  in  any 
egislature. 

Congress 
voting  for 

I  man  from 
lesieged  by 
^r  color  of 
The  peo- 
defence  by 
the  town, 
constantly 


stationed.     S(>eing  them  determined  to  fight,  the   Mis- 
sonrians  left  without  venturing  to  attack  them. 

Finding  the  fi-ee-State  men  thus  firm,  the  other  party 
next  invoked  tlie  judicial  power  to  aid  them  in  breaking 
up  the  combinati(ju  made  against  the  enforcement 
of  illegal  laws.  Governor  Robinson  and  many  other 
free-State  leaders  were  indicted  for  treason  ^  by  a  grand 
jury,  acting  upon  instruction  of  the  chief  justice,  who 
defined  the  acts  of  the  fr'^e-State  men  as  levying  Avar 
against  the  Federal  Government.  Robinson  and  others 
were  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned. Some  of 
the  leaders  escaped 
out  of  the  Territory. 

Bills  of  indictment 
had  also  been  found 
against  the  two  news- 
papers printed  at  Law- 
rence, as  well  as  the 
hotel  in  which  the 
fre(  State  men  were  in  the  habit  of  holding  their  meet- 
ings. These  were  declared  public  nuisances.  Under 
the  color  of  law,  an  armed  posse  proceeded  to  Lawrence, 
threw  the  presses  into  the  river,  gutted  the  hotel,  and 
burned  Governor  Robinson's  house  to  the  ground.  This 
took  place  May  20,  185G. 

The  next  act  of  the  actual  government  was  the  call- 
ing-in  of  United-States  troops  to  disperse  the  free-State 
legislature,  which  met  at  Topeka,  July  4.  All  these 
proceedings  had  aroused  the  keenest  interest  throughout 
the  Union,  and  while  in  Kansas  opposition  to  oppres- 
sion was  momentarily  quelled,  it  was  acquiring  greater 
strength  ^  in  all  the  free  States. 


MUD  TOUT,  LAWUENCB. 


304 


THE    HATTLK    KOUGFIT    AND    WON. 


AiiHHi<«-  I  lie  IVcc-Sliilc  men  were  sonu;  wlio  l)elievc(l 
siicli  ads  as  had  Ix-eii  eoiiiinitte*!  at  Jiawrenee  called 
lor  reprisals  in  kind.  Of  these,  James  II.  Lane'*  oh- 
(ained  a  wide  notoriety;  hnt  the  animatinf]^  si)irit  was 
niidonl)tedly  John  IJrown  of  Osawatoniie/'  who  held 
that  the  policy  of  suhniission  was  all  wrong,  and  that 
the  pro-slavery  men  too  must  be  made  to  fear  for  their 

own  safety  l)efore 
peace  could  l)e 
had.  lie  avowed 
himself  in  favor  of 
giving  blow  for 
blow.  This  idea 
found  much  favor 
with  the  iiohtino- 
})ortionof  the  free- 
State  men.  On 
the  (juestion  of 
slavery,  lirown's 
mind  was  surely 
unsettled  by  the 
all-engrossing  idea 
that  slavery  was  a 
thing  of  violence 
which  must  die  a  violent  death.  To  bring  this  about 
was  now  the  one  purpose  of  his  life,  and  in  pursuit  of 
it  he  was  as  inexorable  as  fate.  For  its  accomplish- 
ment he  possessed  certain  qualities  that  make  either 
the  hero  or  martyr  according  as  the  purpose  is  weighed 
by  history.  An  iron  will,  religious  fervor  amounting 
to  fanaticism,  were  joined  to  a  calm  but  resolute  cour- 
age which  no  danger  could  daunt  or  turn  from  its 
purpose,    lie  was  a  seventeenth-century  Puritan  of  the 


JOHN   BROWN. 


THE    HATTLK    r<>r(JHT    ANI»    WON. 


305 


l<>     l)(!li(3V('(l 

urAi  called 

Iauiq  *  ol)- 

:  si)irit  was 

wlio    llL'ld 

^,  and  that 
ar  for  tlieir 
fety  l)eroio 
could     !)(' 
le  avowed 
in  favor  of 
blow    for 
This  idea 
niich  favor 
lie   IJohtinfT 
of  the  free- 
men.      On 
uestion     of 
,     Brown's 
was    surely 
ed    by   the 
mssing  idea 
ivery  was  a 
oi  violence 
this  about 
1  pursuit  of 
accomplish- 
uike  either 
is  weighed 
amounting 
olute  cour- 
n   from  its 
itan  of  the 


Ch'oniwellian  stamp  —  a   man  of   iron  bidonging   to   an 
iron  age. 

lirown  soon  had  the  Ixnder  in  tcrroi*  of  his  deeds. 
The  blows  lie  struck  were  swift,  secret  and  deadly.  It 
was  now  tiie  pro-slavery  men  who  weic  driven  out  or 
assassinated,  or  had  their  homes  tire(l  at  dead  of  night. 
Men  sent  to 

take       him  .^ge^avs^riS'-n;'^-  .     -    ---      ■  ■*\^,_  ^■ 

were  them- 
selves tak- 
en and  held 
as  prisoners. 
These  acts 
led  to  retal- 
iation, re- 
taliation to 
fresh  out- 
rages, and 
for  a  time 
Kansas  was 
given  over 
to  violence. 

Believing  Congress 
would  admit  them  to  the  Uni(  )n, 
the  slavery  party  also  formed 
a  State  Constitution  at  Lecompton,  the  ca})ital.  But 
an  election  for  a  new  legislature  had  overwhelmingly 
defeated  them,  thus  giving  control  of  the  Territorial 
l)ody  to  the  free-State  men  at  last.  So  the  Lecompton 
men  now  saw  no  hope  for  themselves  except  in  their 
State  Constitution.  As  they  refused  to  sul)mit  the 
whole  instrument  to  the  people,  the  free-State  men  re- 
frained from  voting  for  or  against  the  single  proposition 


brown's  log  uouse. 


300 


THE    IIATTLK    FOlMiHT    AND    WON. 


of  "slavery"  or  "no  slavery,"  seeing;'  they  must  get  the 
detested  Constitution  in  any  event.  The  returns  showed 
the  old  determination  still  strong  to  fasten  slavery  on 
the  people  against  their  will.  A  large  majority  was 
obtained  for  the  Constitution  Ijy  stulling  the  ballot- 
boxes  with  fraudulent  votes.  Of  six  thousand  and  odd 
votes  (6,22G),  nearly  half  (2,720)  were  illegally  east. 
The  Leeompton  Constitution  was,  however,  sent  to  Con- 
gress by  President  Buchanan  with  his  approval.  In 
Congress  it  provoked  a  stormy  debate,  was  sent  back  to 
the  people  of  Kansas  for  final  ratification,  and  by  them 
decisively  rejected  at  the  polls,  August,  1858. 

Though  Kansas  was  kept  out  of  the  Union  three 
years  longer,  her  attitude  in  respect  to  slavery  was  now 
so  little  doubtful  that  the  pro-slavery  men  gave  up  the 
contest  in  despair. 

To  maintain  their  cause  with  the  country  at  large, 
and  make  it  one  on  which  the  opponents  of  slaver}-^ 
could  unite,  the  free-State  men  of  Kansas  lived  for  a 
time  nearly  in  chaos  rather  than  forfeit  the  name  of 
law-abiding  people.  In  this  they  showed  admirable 
self-restraint.  To  maintain  themselves  in  Kansas  they 
were  forced  to  adopt  the  tactics  of  their  assailants  at 
last,  and  deal  blow  for  blow.  Cultured  people  were 
roughened  by  this  sort  of  life.  It  made  them  reckless. 
It  weakened  respect  for  law,  even  with  the  law-abiding. 
It  brought  material  progress  to  a  standstill,  and  engen- 
dered lifelong  enmities  among  men  who  were  to  live 
together  as  neighbors.  Social  improvement  was  put 
back  years.  The  very  existence  of  a  conflict  had  the 
tendency  to  bring  bad  men  to  the  front,  whose  influence 
proved  a  hinderance  to  the  setting  of  order  in  the 
State.     The  contest  in   Kansas  proved  Douglas  wrong 


THE   HATTLK   FOUOHT   AND   "VVOX. 


307 


st  get  tlie 
lis  showed 
slavery  on 
ioritv  was 
lie  biillt)t- 
l  and  odil 
^ally  east, 
nt  to  Con- 
roval.  Ill 
lit  back  to 
I  by  them 

lion  three 
y  was  now 
,ve  lip  the 

at  large, 

of  slavery 

ived  for  a 

name  of 

admirable 
ansas  they 
sailants  at 
jople  were 
I  recldess. 
,w-abiding. 
,iid  engen- 
ive  to  live 
t  was   put 

t  had  the 
e  influence 
ler  in  the 
^las  wrong 


and   Jolin   IJrown  right,  in  so    far  as  the   question  (»f 

jteaeeful  competition   for  the    soil   was  involved  in  it. 

In  a  national  sense  it  was  therefore  but  the  prelude  to 
the  great  Civil  War  of  the  century. 


'  Constitution  piioiiiiutinoSlav- 
EKY,  known  in  hinU)iy  an  llic  Topt-ku 
CunHtitulion.  'I'lic  Stato  finally  canio 
into  tliu  Union  umk'i-  a  ('onHtitntion 
framed  at  Wyanilotte  in  IS.V.i,  lalilJeil 
Oi'tobcr  of  that  yi-ar  at  the  piilJH. 

»  1ni»utki>  vnu  'I'ltEAMON.  The 
I'oiirtrt  were  HUpported  by  Federal  troopn 
with  whom  the  free-Slate  men  wonid 
not  rirtk  a  cuntlict.  KobinHon  anil  oilier 
"  Ireanon  prinoner« "  suffered  several 
nionlht*'  iniprirtonment.  It  wax  a  clever 
l)lan  for  depriving  the  free-Stute  party 
of  il8  leaders. 

s  Acquiring  Stkenotii.  Since  its 
publieation  in  IS.'iJ,  jieople  everywhere 
had  been  reading  Mrs.  II.  B.  Stowe's 
"  Uncle  TomV  Cabin,"  a  book  which 
perhaps  did  more  to  consolidate  i)ubllc 
i)|)inion  against  slavery,  by  directing  at- 
tention to  its  worst  evils,  than  all  the 
political  discussions  of  the  time  i)Ul  to- 
gether. In  this  view  it  deserves  a  place' 
in  the  train  of  events  following  upon  the 
compromises  of  IS.'jO.  Another  episode 
of  like  tendency  was  the  assault  made 
on  Senator  Sumner  by  I'reston  S.  Brooks 
of  South  Curoliim,  iu  the  Senate  Cham- 


ber, arising  out  of  llie  Kansas  troublea 
(1856).  Still  another  was  the  decision  of 
flustice  Taney  in  the  case  of  Drcd  Scott, 
a  slave,  declaring  that  slavery  hiul  a 
right  to  exist  everywhere  in  the  public 
domain  until  forbidden  by  SUkle  lawH. 

*  'Iambs  II.  Lank  of  Indiana  had 
served  with  credit  in  the  Mexican  War. 
lie  came  to  Kansas  a  pro-slavery  man, 
but  soon  joined  the  free-.State  party,  in 
which  he  obtained  much  inthience  —  per- 
haps more  than  any  man  in  it.  Lane 
was  a  born  leader  of  men.  This  expluiim 
his  advancement  in  the  face  of  the  other 
fact  that  he  never  had  the  confidence  of 
other  eminent  free-State  leaders.  With 
the  agricultural  settlers  he  "as  strong. 
Lane's  great  popularity  elected  him  to  the 
United-States  Senate  froni  Kansas.  In 
the  Rebellion  he  connnanded  a  brigade. 
His  public  and  private  integrity  have 
been  ecjually  called  in  question.  Though 
once  the  popular  hero  of  his  day,  Lane 
was  the  ])roduct  of  abnormal  conditionii 
and  died  with  them. 

<>  OsAWATOMiK  isajumblingtogether 
of  Osage  and  Pottawatomie. 


TWO  FREE  STATES  ADMITTED. 

Minnesota  came  into  the  Union  in  1858,  and  Ore- 
gon in  1859,  thus  strengthening  it  by  the  addition  of 
two  young  and  sturdy  commonwealths,  both  of  which 
were  primeval  wildernesses  within  the  niemoiy  of  men 
now  living. 


III. 

THE   CROWN    OF   THE   CONTINENT. 


GOLD  IN  COLORADO,  AND  THE  RUSH  THERE. 

TT  liad  long  been  predicted  by  those  most  familiar 
-*-  with  the  general  chiracteristics  of  the  Rocky  iNIoun- 
tains,  that  eventually  they  would  be  found  rich  in  min- 
eral wealth.  Ouc  of  the  earliest  and  most  sano-uine 
advocates  of  this  idea  was  Colonel  William  Gilj)in  of 
Missouri,  whose  predictions,  when  viewed  in  the  light 
of  later  knowledge,  seem  like  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
Reports  were  indeed  more  or  less  current  at  Salt  Lake 
of  the  findinjx  of  jj^old  amone^  the  mountain  streams  of 
tlie  Great  Basin,  as  far  back  as  1848,  but  all  search  for 
it  was  discouraged  by  the  Mormon  leaders  as  tending 
to  bring  upon  them  a  swarm  of  adventurers  whose 
presence  would  inevitably  work  the  ruin  of  their  isolated 
republic,  and  so  render  all  previous  toil  and  hardshij) 
of  no  avail.  We  hiive  seen  that  such  reports  had 
reached  the  Mormons  in  California,  who  were  preparing 
to  go  to  Salt  Lake  in  consequence  of  them. 

Then,  the  existence  of  rich  silver-mines  among  the 
mountains  of  New  Mexico,  which  the  Si)aniards  had 
been  working  for  an  unknown  period  of  time,  in  the 
rudest  possible  way,  was  a  thing  of  common  knowledge 
from  tlie  time  of  T^a  Salle,  though  the  secrecy  observed 


GOLD   IN   COLORADO,    AND   TIIH    RUSH    THKRK.     30'.) 


NENT. 


ERE. 

;t  familiar 
iky  Moini- 
L;h  in  niin- 
:  sanguine 
Gilpin  of 
the  light 
propliL'cy. 
Salt  Lake 
streams  of 
search  for 
as  tending 
•ers  whose 
eir  isolated 
d  hardshij) 
3ports    had 
3  preparing 

among  the 
niards  had 
me,  in  the 
knowledge 
!y  observed 


in  regard  to  them  effectually  shut  out  incjuiry  as  to 
whether  the  business  w^re  profitable  or  not.  But  Cali- 
fornia was  so  long  the  goal  of  all  seekers  after  gold, 
that  it  was  not  until  her  gold-iields  began  to  give  out, 
and  people  began  to  ask  "  What  next?"  that  the  great 
backbone  of  the  continent,  over  which  the  emigration 
had  rushed  so  long  and  heedlessly,  suddenly  stopped 
them  with  the  (question,  as  one  might  say,  "  Why  not 
search  me  ?  " 

The  first  report  of  the  finding  of  gold  at  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  reached  the  Missouri 
Jliver  in  July,  1858,  but 
did  not  gain  much  credit 
till  several  months  later. 
By  October,  however, 
the  fever  was  ut  its 
height  on  the  frontier, 
and  had  made  some 
progress  toward  the 
east.  Though  several 
parties  started  out  from 
the  border  towns  of 
Kansas  and  Missouri, 
the  lateness  of  the  sea- 
son prevented  many  from  going  at  this  time.  Mean- 
while, however,  reports  continued  to  come  in,  each 
seemingly  well  authenti(!ated  and  more  conclusive,  as 
to  the  main  fact  that  gold  existed  in  ])aying  ([uantity 
not  far  from  the  foot  of  Pike's  Peak.  The  region  where 
report  located  the  discoveries  therefore  took  to  itself 
the  name  of  this  magnificent  mountain,  whose  sides 
were  vaguely  sup})osed  to  be  veined  with  the  precious 
metal  found  in  the  sands  of  the  Platte. 


GATE,   (lAKI)EN   OF  THE   OODH. 


310     GOLD   IX   COLOItADO,    AND   TIIK    laSH    THKIM-:. 


After  iiiUL'li  prospecting,  the  ground  jilong  Chcrrv 
Creek,  a  small  tributary  of  the  South  Platte,  was  fixed 
upon  as  one  promif^ing  tlie  best  results  to  the  miner. 
It  accordingly  became  a  base  for  future  o])erations 
which  were  to  be  pushed  up  into  tlie  heart  of  the  moun- 
tains. First  known  simply  as  Cherry  Creek,  the  cani]» 
of  the  earliest  comers  soon  took  to  itself  the  name  of 
Denver  City,^  from  James  W.  Denver,  governor  of  Kan- 
sas, of  which  this  gold 
region  tlien  formed 
part. 
Witli  the  comino 
of  sjaing,  and 
opening  of  nav- 
igation on  the 
i\Iiss()uri,  emi- 
grants began  to 
pour  into  the 
various  points 
^  of  departure  for 
the  new  gold 
region.  From 
Omaha  to  In- 
dependence un- 
precedented bustle  prevailed  all  along  the  border.  Many 
started  off  on  a  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles  on  foot. 
Some  put  their  worldly  goods  in  hand-carts  to  which 
they  harnessed  themselves.  One  man  is  said  to  have 
trundled  a  wheelbarrow  from  Kansas  C^ity  to  Cherry 
Creek.  Most  emigrants,  however,  went  in  wagons  over 
the  now  well-marked  roads  of  tlie  pioneers,  and  by  night 
the  prairies  were  lighted  up  far  and  near  with  their 
camp-fires. 


Ill'MORS   OP  THE   UOAD. 


IKIIE. 


GOLD    IN    COLOUAIM),    AND   TIIK    KUSH    THERE.     311 


g     CllClTV 

was  fixed 
lie  minor. 

])eniti()ns 

tlic  mouii- 

tlie  cam]) 

!  name  <»t' 

)!•  of  Ivaii- 

this  yfold 
II    formed 

le  comint> 
ring",  and 
ino'of  nav- 
)U  on  tli(! 
;>ini,  emi- 
ts l)cgaii  to 
into  tlie 
)ns  points 
pai'turefor 
new  g(jld 
m.  From 
lia  to  In- 
ndenoeun- 
ler.  Many 
es  ou  foot. 
,  to  which 
(1  to  liav(! 
to  Clierry 
lefons  over 
d  by  ni<T^lit 
with  their 


In  view  of  the  rush  to  Pike's  Peak,  the  firm  of  Rus- 
sell, Majors  &  Wacldell,  which  had  for  years  trans- 
ported supplies  to  the  military  posts  of  Kansas,  Utah, 


UENVEH  IN    ISuy. 

and  New  Mexico,  now  put  on  a  line  of  daily  coaches 
from  Leavenworth  to  Denver,  which  were  run  up  the  Re- 
publican, and 
thence  to  the 
Phitte.  Thus, 
after  the  Indi- 
an ponj^  the 
trap])er's  cara- 
van, the  ex[)lor- 
ers*  and  emi- 
grants' caval- 
cade, comes  at 
last  the  mod- 
ern stage- 
coach with    its  <.VKRI.AN»  STA(iK.  -IN  (AMP. 

promise     of 

greater  things  to  follow  in  its  track.  On  the  21st  of 
May  the  first  coach  reached  Leavenworth  on  its  return 
from  the  mountains,  bringing  only  a  few  thousand  dol- 


312  GOLD  IN  COLORADO,  AND  THE  RUSH  THERE. 


(JOINii    IN. 


lars  in  dust ;  l)ut  in  that  month  John  II.  Gregory,  an 

ohl  Georgia  miner,  found  ricli  deposits  of  gohl  in  tiie 
^,^^ ...  ^^,       mountains  among  the 

f  r  headwaters  of  Clear 
Creek.  This  discovery 
established  the  value 
of  Colorado  as  a  gold- 
bearing  region. 

When  visited  in  1859 
the  Gregory  Diggings 
Avere  found  in  a  gulch 
along  which  log  cabins, 
tents  and  camps,  hast- 
ily covered  in  with 
boards  or  pine  boughs, 

were  scattered  for  miles.    There  were  then  live  thousand 

peo[)le  in  them,  and  more  were  coming  in  every  day. 
Here  the  experiences  of  California  life  were  repeated. 

Some  men  were  taking  out 

two  hundred  dollars  a  day ; 

others  who  worked  equally 

hard  did  not  get  five  dollars 

a  day  for  their  labor.     It  re- 
sulted that  a  stream  of  con- 

tident  and  cheerful  ones  were 

constantly   going   in,    while 

not  a  few  who  had  failed  to 

find  fortune  in  the  diggings 

were  as  constantly  coming 

out,  crestfallen  and  in  rags. 
In  1859  Denver  had  al)out 

one  thousand  people,  who  lived  in  three  hundred  ro 

hewn  log  houses.    Very  few  of  them  had  glass  wind 


COMFNU   OUT. 


1- 


HERE. 


GOLD    IX    COLOIIADO,    AND   THE   HUSH    THERE.     313 


i-egory,  an 
)l(l  in  tlie 
niong  tlic 
of  Clear 
discovery 
the  value 
as  a  gokl- 

eel  in  1850 
Diggings 
in  a  gulch 
og  cabins, 
nips,  hast- 
in  witli 
le  boughs, 
1  thousand 

I  repeated. 


OFFICE  OF  "  KOCKV-MOt'M'AlN    NKWS,"   UBNVEIl. 


ed  rough - 
windows, 


or  doors,  or  other  floors  than  tlie  bare  ground.  Hearths 
and  fireplaces  would  be  built  of  adobe,  as  in  New 
Mexico,  and  chimneys  of  sticks  laid  crosswise  one  on 
the  other,  with  the  interstices^  filled  witli  mud,  as  the 

New  -  Englanders    of  -^ZII: — 

1(330  were  accus- 
tomed to  make 
theirs.  As  no 
rain  falls  ex- 
cept   during 
the    summer 
months,    life 
in   the  open 
air  caused  -^ 
little  discom-  ^:s^;.^- 
fort  to   peo- 
ple who,  be- 
ing obliged  to  make  the  most  of  every  thing,  easily 
learned  to  do  without  what  are  called  luxuries. 

Picturesquely  set  up  among  these  homely  dwellings 

of  the  whites,  one 
saw  many  skin  lodges. 
These  belonged  to  a 
band  of  Ara[)aho  In- 
dians, who  had  thus 
pitched  their  camp  in 
the  heart  of  the  grow- 
ing city,  (iolden  City 
in  the  north  and  Colo- 
rado City  in  the  soutli 
were  soon  founded. 
The  first  was  an  intermediate  point  on  the  route  to 
the  Gregory  Diggings ;  the  second  was  started  at  the 


COLOKADU  CITY,   1859. 


314     GOLD   IN    COLORADO,    AND   THE    KTSH    THEIIE. 

foot  of  Pike's  Pe.'ik,  iioar  to  the  famous  Fontaine 
qui  bouille^  or  Boiling  Spring,  and  on  the  route  to 
Santa  F^. 

In  a  few  months  more  Denver  liad  grown  to  a  city 
of  brick  and  frame  buildings,  with  two  theatres,  a  mint 
coining  the  gold  of  its  own  mines,  and  rival  dail}- 
ncvvspapers.     It   had   (piite   reached  the   second  stage 

of   development  of 
frontier  cities. 

The  surface,  or 
placer,  diggings  of 
Colorado  were  soon 
exhausted,  but  in 
their  place  belts  of 
gold  mixed  with 
quartz  were  struck 
all  tlie  way  from  Pike's  Peak  in  the  south  to  Long's 
Peak  in  the  north.  Above  this  gold  belt,  rich  silver 
ores  were  sometimes  found  on  the  very  summits  of  the 
mountains.  These  discoveries  soon  changed  mining 
from  a  pursuit  in  which  every  one  could  engage,  and 
which  had  draM^n  such  numbers  into  Colorado  in  the 
beginniTig,  to  the  larger  operations  of  capital,  with  all 
the  appliances  modern  science  brings  to  its  aid. 


QUARTZ  STAMPING-MILL. 


>  Denvku  City.  Oreon  Russell,  a 
Georgian,  with  a  company  of  s;old-seek 
ers,  pitched  the  tirHt  camp  on  Cherry 
Creek  in  the  summer  of  1858.  They 
called  It  Auraria  after  a  minint;  town  of 
Georgia.  The  party  which  named  Den- 
ver City  came  with  General  Larimer,  of 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  in  the  winter  of  IH.jS 
-;''9.  The  gold  region  first  formed  a 
county  of  Kansas  called  Arapaho, 
though  distant  uix  hundred  miles  from 


Junction  City,  then  the  nearest  flcttle- 
meut  of  Kansas.  The  nearest  post-of- 
fice was  Fort  Laramie,  two  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  north  of  Denver. 

-  Fontaine  qii  bouille,  French. 
"The three  fountains  bubbling  up  from 
the  ground,  ami  not  boiling  with  heat, 
are  strongly  imi>regnaled  with  soda." 
They  were  visited  and  described  by 
Pike,  Long,  Fremont,  and  others. 


THE   J»AC1F1C   UAILliUAD. 


315 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

In  time  of  war  prepare  for  peace. 

In  al)ont  lialf  a  ceiitiiiy  we  have  seen  tlie  great  body  of 
the  nation  moving  more  tlian  five  hundred  miles  west- 
wai'd.  It  lias  moved  forward  like  an  army  taking  the 
field,  planting  its  outlying  settlements  before  it  at  all 
strategic      points,  _     . .^  ^  ^ 

the  possession  of 
which  was  essen- 
tial to  the  success 
of  its  peaceful  mis- 
sion. This  army 
has  marched  at 
the  rate  of  iQw 
miles  a  year,  most- 
ly idong  the  thirty- 
ninth  parallel,  to 
which  the  advan- 
tage of  soil  and  climate  was  its  infallible  guide.  Its 
destination  was  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

We  have  also  witnessed  the  occupation  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  the  rise  of  two  great  States  there  whose  peo])le 
were  already  stretching  their  hands  out  toward  the  East 
as  if  to  hasten  its  coming.  The  genius  of  civilization 
hovered  over  and  directed  this  grand  march,  which 
never  halted  but  to  re-form  its  lines  and  go  forward 
again  with  stately  tread. 

We  have  further  seen  a  third  body  firmly  plant  itself 
among  the  fastnesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  whose 
mission  was  to  extend  its  own  civilization  both  to  the 
East  and  West,  as  the  pebble  which  is  dropped  into  a, 


QUAKEIi  GUN   AT  STAGE    STATION. 


316 


THE   PACIFIC   liAlLllOAI). 


pool  sends  out  its  evcr-hroadeiiing  circle  ui)on  the  sur- 
face of  the  wiitcrs.  Thus  the  people  of  New  Mexico, 
Colorado,  and  Utah,  were  already  throwing  out  little 
colonies  into  the  later  Territories  of  Nevjida,  Arizona, 
Idaho,  and  Montana.  Tiuis  these  Territories  were  tlie 
heralds  of  the  coniinq;  East.  And  in  this  manner  the 
vip^orous  West  had  secured  in  advance  the  strongholds 
which,  in  a  physical  sense,  impeded  the  nuirch  toward 
the  Pacific. 

As  it  went  forward,  the  East  brought  all  the  appli- 
ances of  civilization  with  it,  and  set  them  working  all 
along  the  line.  In  1859  ^  the  locomotive  and  telegraph 
reached  the  eastern  frontier  of  Kansas.  There  was  now 
a  gap  of  two  thousand  miles  remaining  to  he  closed  up 
between  the  Missouri  and  the  Paciiic.  How  to  bridge 
this  over,  and  by  so  doing  bring  widely  separated  sec- 
tions together,  was  a  question  now  assuming  national 
importance  in  men's  minds. 

The  West  demanded  it  should  be  done  without  more 
delay;  the  older  sections  responded  in  the  spirit  of 
national  progress. 

Private  enterprise  had  already  accomplished  some- 
thing toward  the  desired  object.  In  the  summer  of 
1859  the  same  energetic  firm  that  had  sent  the  first 
stage-coach  across  the  wastes  of  Western  Kansas  to  Den- 
ver, put  on  a  pt)ny  express^  to  run  between  the  Mis- 
souri Uiver  and  the  Pacific.  Stations  were  established 
twenty-five  miles  apart  on  the  open  prairie,  where  fresh 
animals  and  riders  were  kept  ready  saddled  and 
equipped  for  the  road.  Mounted  on  his  hardy  little 
Indian  pony,  the  courier  rode  with  whip  and  spur  to 
the  next  station,  where,  whether  by  night  or  day,  he 
stopped  only  long  enough  to  snatch  a  mouthful,  mount 


THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


317 


a  fresh  pony,  and  sotuirc  liis  lutter-ponch  l)oliin(l  liini. 
He  then  dashed  on  again  at  t\u)  top  ol'  l»is  sihhmI. 
Tliough  one  of  tlie  oldest  known  methods  of  earning^ 
news,  the  difficnlties  were  here  sneli  as  sehhtni  have 
been  overcome.  By  dint  of  hard  riding,  (h'spatclies  were 
sometimes  delivered  in  Denver  in  less  than  three  days, 
and  in  Sacramento  in  eight  days,  from  the  time  of 
setting  ont. 

The  IJutterfield  Overland  Stage  Comi)any'^  estab- 
lished between  St.  Lonis  and  San  Francisco  (1859)  was 
a  more  serions 
undertaking. 
It  ran  coaches 
every  day  in 
tlie  year,  over 
the  longest 
stage  -  route  in 
the  world,  trav- 
ersing a  dis- 
tance f)f  near 
three  thousand 
miles  from  end 
to  end. 

Even  such 

achievements  tis  these  were  regarded  as  make-shifts 
which  the  coming  railway  should  set  aside.  That  and 
that  only  would  solve  the  problem  how  })ermanently  to 
unite  and  hold  together  such  remote  sections  of  the 
Union.  In  the  East  the  country  has  always  been  settled 
before  railways  were  built:  in  the  West  railways  are 
ex})ected  to  bring  settlenuMit  with  them,  or  even  to  go 
before  it  in  a  case  like  the  present  one.  Hut  without  a 
country  to  sui)port  it,  the   ])roi)osed   Paciiic    Kailway* 


PONY  EXPKESS  AND  OVERLAND   STAGE. 


318 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


\ 


was  something  too  vast  for  private  enterprise  to  grapple 
with.  From  the  time  it  was  first  talked  of,  the  enter- 
.prise,  therefore,  assumed  a  national  character  and  im- 
portance. 

But  the  slavery  question  had  now  hrought  on  a 
national  crisis.  Too  long  it  had  hung  over  the  land 
like  a  storm-cloud  that  is  to  overwhelm  it  witli  ruin. 
The  election  of  Ahraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presidencv 
(18G0)  was  followed  hy  the  secession  of  most  of  the 
slave-holding  States  (18(>1),  secessi<>n  by  civil  war,  and 
civil  war  by  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  land.  W\ 
the  resources  of  the  country  being  needed  to  cany  on 
the  war,  it  would  seem,  at  first  sight,  no  time  could  be 
worse  chosen  for  pressing  the  claims  of  the  Pacific  ]\ail- 
way  than  when  men  so  doubted  and  feared  for  the 
nation  itself. 

The  people,  however,  thought  otherwise,  and  they 
were  to  rule.  Indeed,  at  the  moment  the  Union  was 
most  seriously  threatened  with  dissolution,  the  idea  of 
binding  the  Great  West  more  firmly  to  it  seemed 
dictated  by  a  wise  forecast,  since,  if  remoteness  were 
to  be  an  element  of  weakness  to  the  nation,  then  the 
sooner  that  remoteness  were  done  away  with,  the  better 
for  its  security. 

Congress  made  liberal  offers  of  moneys  and  lands,  and 
work  l)egan  both  in  California  (18G2)  and  Nebraska^ 
(1863).  The  route  from  the  Missouri  first  begun  fol- 
lowed the  old  emigrant  trail  up  the  Platte  Valley,  thence 
crossing  the  mountains  into  the  Utah  Basin,  where  the 
road  from  the  west  was  expected  to  join  it.  As  the 
Platte  Valley  is  nearly  a  dead  level  from  the  Missouri 
to  the  mountains,  the  work  went  on  rapidly  over  this 
part  of  the  line.     Twelve  thousand  men  were  employed 


10  to  p^rapp],. 
U  tlic  ciitor- 
't<'J"  JUkI  iiH- 

iiglit    on    a 

'!•  tlie   ]jui(l 

with  ruin. 

^^rt'sidenc'v 
lost  of  tlie 

^JI  ^va^,  and 
land.     All 

to  carry  on 

IH!  could  1)0 

^acitic  Kail- 
^'^1   ior   the 

'  and  thev 
Union  was 
lie  idea  of 
it  seemed 
niess  were 
^  then  the 
the  better 

lands,  and 
Nebraska  ^ 
J(3giiii  fol- 
-y,  thence 
vhere  tlie 
As   the 
Missouri 
3ver  this 
niployed 


TFIE   I'ACIFK^    RAILROAn. 


319 


on  it.  In  front  J^fani^s  of  laborers  slio veiled  u])  the  loose 
earth  to  form  the  embaidvuient ;  after  thc^se  came  the 
tie-layers  and  track-layers;  who  were  airain  closely  fol- 
lowed by  the  locomotive,  with  the  cais  in  which  the 
workmen  slept  Jind  ate  since  leaving  the  settlements 
behind  them. 

When  the  track  neared  the  Black  Hills,  the  Indians 
tried  to  stoj)  its  farther  progress.  They  looked  upon 
its  coming  as  destined  to  drive  away  the  buffalo  fnmi 
their    old    feed-  :.vv....-.- 

ing-grounds,and  ■  -^^/-^^^:/J:s^^  -./i^^"-'"^~ 
so  starve  them 
out  of  their 
country.  In  this 
belief  thev  at- 
tacked  the  labor- 
ers, tore  np  the 
tracks,  and  so 
harassed  tlie 
builders  that  the 
work  could  only 
go  on  under  tbe 

protection  of  United  States  soldiers.  Some  well-meaning 
people  thouglit  it  wrong  thus  to  invade  the  Indians' 
hunting-grounds  for  any  purpose  whatsoever,  and  Wen- 
dell Phillips  rejoiced  that  they  had  risen  in  defence  of 
them.  Said  he,  ".Ml  hail  and  farewell  to  the  Pacific 
Railroad!  Haunt  that  road  with  such  dangers  that 
none  will  dare  use  it !  " 

The  work,  however,  steadily  went  on.  On  the  10th 
of  May,  1869,  the  two  ends  came  together  at  Promon- 
tory Point,  Utah,  and  with  imi)ressive  ceremonies  the 
Pacific  Railway  was  opened  to  the  traffic  of  the  world. 


TRACK-LAYINU,   PAtlFIC    KAILUUAU. 


320 


THK   PA(;iFIC    RAILROAH. 


Till!    way    to    the    Tiuru's    liad    been   foinul. 
Heiitou's  prophecy  was  t'lilfilled. 


Senator 


>    TlIK      !,()( OMOTIVK      HKACIIKI)     St. 

.loHcph,  Mo.,  over  the  llanniliul  and  St. 
iToHeph  Kail  road.  'I'lie  tcli'^rapli  <'aiiu> 
up  llic  MixHoiiri  Ulvcr  from  St.  I.oiijh. 
'riu-  tcluKraph  croHHoil  the  plaiim  in 
advance  of  the  railroad. 

*  I'ONV  I'lXl'UKSM  followcci  till-  old 
Platte  route,  rin  KorlH  Kearney,  Lara- 
mie, the  South  I'aHM,  Fort  Itridj^er,  to 
Salt  Lake. 

3   Hl'TTEUFIKM)      OVEIII.ANI)      CoM- 

PANy'h  route  went  throui:li  llie  Indian 
Territory,  'I'exaH,  and  .Vri/ona,  willi  a 
braneh  line  eoniini;  from  MemphiK, 
Teun.,  rid  Fort  Smith,  Ark.  'I'lie 
eoaelicH  ran  day  anil  nii;lit,  onlinarily 
making  liie  trip  in  twenty-live  ilayw. 

*  TlIK     i'ACIKU-     liAM.WAY.        A     Ijill 

a.ithori/in^  it  waH  earried  tiiroiigli  Con- 
l^reHH  in  IS.'ill.  It  provided  for  three 
ureal  linew,  namely,  the  Nortliern,  South 
ern,  and  Central,  all  of  wlilch  liave  been 
built.  Tlie  eoniinx  on  of  eivil  war 
checked    the    cnterpritie    al    tliin    time. 


novernnient  had  already  enuBed  nil  the 
pra<"tieable  routen  to  l>e  surveyed.  .\-< 
farliuek  um  1H40  Lieutenant  Emory  noted 
down  tlie  pra(tieal>ility  of  the  route  up 
tlie  .\rkanHaH,  down  tlu^  Rio  Orande.'Uid 
llila  to  Han  Diego  or  Lom  An>{eleH,  while 
on  tile  marcli  for  Califorida.  Tliin  irt, 
praclieally,  tlie  Southern  racilic  route 
of  to-day. 

0  Camfounia  and  Xkbraska  routes, 
'i'liat  be^iin  In  California  is  called  the 
<'entral  I'aeilic.  The  one  leaving  Onialia 
in  tlie  Inlon  I'aeitic.  lloth  lineH  have 
many  branelu'H.  On  the  California  side 
the  lirHt  paHHenjjer  train  ri'aelied  the  top 
of  tlic  Sierra,  Nov.  30,  IStl".  'I'he  rnion 
■  'aeHie  did  not  |)iii4h  its  work  until  the 
war  wan  nearly  over.  I?y  the  autumn 
of  ISOtl  it  was  forty  niile«  went  of  Fort 
Ki'arney.  I?y  the  lime  the  Central 
I'aeille  wan  in  the  Truekee  Valley  (140 
miles  built),  the  I'nion  I'aeitic  waw  at  the 
niaek  IlillH  (.')00  mileH  built).  lirigham 
Young  built  u  portion  of  the  road  in  Utah. 


KANSAS,  NEVADA,  NEBRASKA  AND  COLORADO 

ADMITTED. 

Kansas  came  into  the  Union  (18G1)  as  the  seceding 
States  went  ont.  Tl'  ''•^»  peaceful  progress  was  arrested 
by  tlie  war,  which  -iiost  of  her  able-bodied  men  in 

the  field,  she,  '  aiigest  State,  did  her  part  bravely 

and  well  in  ti..  memorable  conflict  of  arms,  by  the 
side  of  the  older  ones.  She  kept  the  name  of  the 
nation  which  had  dwelt  along  her  great  river  before 
the  coming  of  the  white  men.  With  the  cessation  of 
civil  strife  began  an  era  of  prosperity,  liardly  i)aralleled 
in  the  history  of  tlie  nation,  and  owing,  chieHy,  to  the 


i  I 


KANSAS,    NKVADA,    NEHllASKA,    <  ( H.OUAIK).        o2\ 


Senator 


ly  onused  all  tlio 
V  huivt'yt'd.     As 

Ulll  KlDOiy  noted 

'  of  the  route  up 
Uio  Oraiulc  anil 
irt  Arif^i'lfH,  while 
foiiiia.  Thin  in, 
rii   raeific   route 

KBKASKA  routes, 
lia  is  called  the 
e  leavinj,' Omaha 
Hoth  linen  have 
e  ('aliforiiia  Hide 
readied  the  toji 
Hii".  'I'he  Cnioii 
1  worlv  until  the 
l?y  the  autumn 
t'H  Went  of  Fort 
ne  the  Central 
;liee  Valley  (140 
'aeillc  waH  at  the 
uiit).  Urigham 
he  road  in  Utah. 


>RADO 

3  seceding 
as  arrested 
ed  men  in 
it  bravely 
lis,  by  the 
le  of  tlie 
\'Qr  before 
ssation  of 
paralleled 
fly,  to  tlie 


rcrtility  of  licr  .>oil,  wliicli  has  raistMl  hrr  to  tht'  front 
rank  (»f  agricultural  States. 

Nevada*  may  be  said  to  have  sprung  from  (he  side 
of  Caliiornia,  though  originally  forming  2>art  of  Utah. 
For  a  time  it  was  known  onlv  as  Washoe,  from  the 
Indians  living  about  the  east  foot  of  the  great  Sii'ira. 

A  little  surfac'i!  gold  was  found  here  as  early  as 
1850  by  emigrants  who  carried  the  news  to  California. 
Their  report  brought  a  number  of  eager  gold-seekers 
into  the  gulches  around  what  has  since  grown  up  to  be 
Virginia  City,  and  it  was  while  searching  for  gold  that 
rich  silver  ores  were  discovered  early  in  1850,  on  Mount 
Davidson.  Here  on  the  eastern  sloi)e  of  this  mountain, 
near  the  newlv  discovered  silver  lode,  the  town  of 
Virginia  began  with  a  few  log  huts.  In  sixteen  years 
it  had  a  i)o[)ulatiou  of  twenty-live  thousand.  .In  18G4 
Nevada  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

Nkuuaska^  in  soil  and  climate  is  quite  like  Kansas, 
though  sonunvhat  less  feriili!.  Though  opened  to  set- 
tlement at  the  same  time  Kansas  was,  emigration  was 
mostly  directed  to  the  latter  State  by  the  slavery  ex- 
citement. Jn  1861  the  area  of  Nebraska  was  nnu-li 
reduced  by  the  forming  of  Dakota,  though  it  is  still 
larger  than  all  New  England.  Omaha,^  Plattsmouth, 
and  Nebraska  City  grew  up  as  outfitting  points  for  the 
commerce  of  the  plains.  All  were  villages  in  1857. 
As  the  railway  system  of  Iowa  unerringly  directed 
itself  toward  the  Platte,  (^inaha,  the  capital,  grew  in 
importance;  but  when  the  terminus  of  the  Pa.ific 
Railway  was  fixed  there,  its  future  was  assured.  From 
this  time  onward  the  progress  of  Nebraska  was  marked. 
In  1867  it  came  into  the  sisterhood  of  States. 

Colorado  was  nani:d  for  the  great  river  which  rises 


322       KANSAS,    NKVADA,    NEIJllASIvA,    COLOIIADO. 

among  its  inoiiutains.  It  was  foniUMl  (18<)1)  of  por- 
tions taken  from  New  Mexico,  I'tali  and  Kansas.  He- 
sides  its  mineral  wealtli,  tlie  raising  of  sheep  and  cattle 
has  grown  to  he  a  great  industry.  In  1865  Cok)rad(> 
was  a(hiiitted  to  tlie  Union. 


•  Xevaiia,  Spanish  for  "  siiowj,"  ih 
aptly  callfil  "Tlu-  Ocscrt  Stati'."  Kx 
cppt  lead  and  HJlver  il  prodiiccH  little  or 
nulhiiig.  C'arHoi),  the  capital,  ir<  named 
for  F"remont'rt  oid  >riiii!e.  'I'lioiigh  silver 
minert  were  aliH»  o|)eiie(l  in  the  lieese 
Hiver  District  (Auf^tin)  the  chief  mineral 
de|)0!iitri  were  found  almut  Virgnua  (.'ity. 
A  great  rush  i»et  in  there  froen  California, 
whiTc  the  extiieiiu-nt  al>out  Washoe 
quite  rivalled,  for  a  time,  that  of  1840. 
Here  are  the  great  Comctock,  (Junlil  and 
Ciirrj  and  other  rieh  silver  lodes.  This 
explains  why  |Kjpi:lation  is  ehielly  eon 
centr;it«"«J  in  one  spot  in  the  west  of  the 
State,  ('alifornia  is  its  natural  outlet. 
In  sixlit'n  years  the  Conistock  luineH 
yieldt-d  ovei  two  iiuiulred  million  dol- 
lan  iu  (iilver  bulliou. 


-  XEnRASKA.  When  I  visited  Xc 
braska  (Ai)ril,  Is.'iS),  a  fi'vv  settlements 
were  begun  on  the  Xemaha,  Saline,  Hii; 
Hliie,  and  KIkhorn,  but  all  would  not 
have  made  one  good-sized  to\>  ;i.  The 
Meat  tide  of  western  travel  set  througl: 
Independence,  Kansas  City,  lA-aven 
worth  and  St.  .Tosei)h.  In  IST'i  the 
London  Times  openly  tliscouraged  emi- 
gration to  Xebraska,  urging  the  lied 
River  country  instead.  Western  Xe 
braska  is  unfertile. 

3  Omaha  is  six  hundred  miles  from 
St.  Louis  by  the  Missouri  Kiver,  Hve 
hundred  from  Chicago,  and  l,>>;tS  from 
San  Francisco.  It  has  a  charinini;  site. 
In  ISGC  its  |M)i)ulutioii  had  risen  to  eight 
thousand. 


THE   COMING   STATES. 

It  is  at  least  worthy  of  notice,  in  following  out  the 
law  governing  the  movement  of  our  people  from  east 
to  west,  that  the  great  hlock  of  wilderness  country 
which  Lewis  and  Clarke  first  explored  should  be  the 
last  settled.  The  course  their  explorations  took  passes 
tln'ough  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho  and  Washington  Ter- 
ritories, to  the  sea. 

The  reason  for  this  long  pause  between  the  first  and 
last  acts  in  the  story  of  i\\v  (treat  West  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  later  exploration  soon  determined  in  favor 
of  the  Platte  Valley,  as  the  one  affording  by  far  the 
short^'st   way    through   the   centre    of    the    continent. 


:ai>o. 


TIIK   COMING    STATES. 


323 


<>1^  of  j)or- 

aiisiis.     Hc- 

'  and  cjittlc 

►o  Colorado 


I'ti  F  visitfd  Xc 
fi'w  Hfttk-metitH 
nulla,  Saline,  IJiy 
It  all  would  not 
zrd  to\>:i.  '|"||,. 
-avei  r<et  tlirough 
'  <^'ity,  f.cavi-ii 
Iti  1A:>  the 
iirtcouraKi'd  emi 
indiij^'  the  Rod 
WfHtern    Ne 

drcd  miles  from 
ouii  Kiver,  livt- 
,  ami  l.sos  from 
a  chariniiiif  Hite. 
ud  risen  to  eight 


ig  out  the 
from  east 
IS  country 
lid  be  the 
ook  j^asses 
igton  Ter- 

i  first  and 
found  in 
d  in  favor 
>y  far  the 
continent. 


Therefore  the  Territories  just  named  are  mostly  an 
outgrowth  of  the  more  central  regi(tn  in  which  the 
great  body  of  emigration  has  first  settled.  It  may  be 
rurther  remarked,  that  in  those  Territories  where  gold 
and  silver  occnr,  settlement  was  nearly  simultaneous. 

Idaho,^  like  Nevada,  grew  up  from  the  discovery  of 
<»'old  and  silver  in  her  borders.  The  tindintr  of  these 
l»recious  metals  goes  no  I'lnther  back  than  the  sum- 
mer of  18G2.  These  were  placer  deposits.  A  year 
later  (piartz  lodes,  rivalling  in  richness  those  of  Colo- 
rado, were  l)rouoht  to  liiiht.  Soon  the  old  Hudson's 
Hay  post  of  Fort  Boise  ^  was  turned  into  a  thrifty  town. 
The  mineral  find  rajtidly  extended  along  the  Salmon, 
Boise,  and  Clearwater  Kivcrs.  In  the  south,  Idaho 
City  sprung  up  on  the  Boisd ;  in  the  north,  Lewiston  on 
the  Clearwat(U' was  settled.  In  1800  Idaho  scarcely  had 
any  white  j)eople  :  in  18r)3  they  were  sulliciently  numer- 
ous to  entitle  them  to  have  a  Territorial  goveriniient. 

WAsmxfJToN^  is  another  rib  taken  from  the  side  of 
the  older  Oregon,  whose  boundaries  so  fortunately  gave 
us  the  magnilicent  harbors  embraced  by  Puget  Sound. 
Here  therefore  is  the  natural  terminus  of  the  Northern 
i'acific  Railway,"*  which  comes  from  Duluth  and  St. 
Paul,  crosses  the  tier  of  Territories  now  under  consider- 
ation, and  reaches  Tacoma  by  way  of  the  Lower  Colum- 
i)ia.     Washington  was  made  a  Territory  in  1853. 

Montana.^  AIkuU  all  known  of  this  Territi  ry  in 
1800  was  that  it  contained  two  important  military  posts: 
Fort  Benton  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri, 
and  F(n't  Union  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone. 
But  in  18()1  o()ld  was  found  in  a  gulch  lying  at  the  head 
of  the  Jeflerson  Fork  of  the  Missouri.  Fopulatiori 
rushed  in.     Here  Bannack  City  was  founded.     As  with 


324 


THE  COMING   STATES. 


Colorado  and  Nevada,  so  liere  tli(3  surface  digginji^s  were 
quickly  worked  out.  lu  1802  Virginia  City  was  founded 
as  the  successor  of  Hannuck  ;  and  in  1863  Helena  as  the 
successor  of  Virginia,  and  su[)ply-p()int  for  the  mines  of 
the  Blackfeet  country.  Montana  was  organized  as  a 
Territory  in  1804.  A  year  later  there  were  but  lour 
post-oftices,  at  which  tri-weekly  mails  were  received, 
while  but  one  newspaper  was  printed  in  the  Territory. 
Yet  even  at  this  ea  ly  day,  when  mining  engrossed  the 
attention  of  nine-tenths  of  the  po[)ulation,  it  was  seen 
that  the  agricultural  resources  of  M(jntana  were  very 
great,  and  since  the  building  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  along  the  Yellowstone,  that  valley  has  become 
to  Montana  what  the  Willamette  is  to  Oregon,  —  the 
garden  of  the  State. 

Dakota  has  signally  demonstrated  its  capacity  for 
supporting  large  popluations,  either  by  raising  grain 
crops  or  live  stock,  for  which  the  wild  grasses  of  the 
plains  furnish  abundant  pasturage.  Divided  by  the 
Missouri  in  the  centre,  and  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  Red  River  of  the  North,  Dakota  has  come  to  be  a 
great  wheat-producing  region  in  its  eastern  half,  and 
a  cattle-growing  one  in  its  western.  Made  a  Territory 
in  18G1,  a  substantial  i)rogress  has  litted  Dakota  to 
enter  the  Union  at  an  early  day. 

Wyoming  contains  in  its  north-western  corner  the 
wonderful  Yellowstone  Park,  which  Congress  with  wise 
forecast  has  set  apart  for  the  benefit  and  instruction  of 
mankind.  At  no  distant  day  this  remarkal)le  and  pic- 
turesque region  bids  fair  to  become  the  chosen  play- 
ground of  the  nation. 

Thus  the  Great  American  Desert,  which  only  to  have 
crossed  was  once  thought  a  feat  wortliy  of  being  handed 


THE  COMING   STATES. 


325 


down  to  posterity,  wliose  length  and  l)reiidth  were  vividly 
j;(»rtrayed  as  never  meant  to  be  inhabited  by  man,  is  now 
everywiiere  snpporting  large  and  prosi)erous  popnlations. 

It  is  bnt  just  to  achl  that  the  Mormons  first  disjjroved 
this  popular  fallaey  by  making  their  homes  in  the  heart 
of  the  desert,  which  imperfect  knowledge  first  led  them 
to  choose,  and  necessity  afterward  forced  to  make  trial 
of.  These  people  have  therefore  done  a  work  as  re- 
markable in  its  way  as  that  performed  by  the  early 
New-England  colonists. 

It  should  further  be  added,  that  the  occupation  of 
these  Territories,  notably  Montana  and  Dakota,  was  pro- 
ductive of  serious  conflicts  with  the  Indians,  who  fought 
to  the  death  for  the  preservation  of  their  last  hunting- 
grounds.  The  Sioux  war  of  187G  was  caused  by  the 
rush  of  gold-seekers  into  the  Black  Hills,  which  the 
Sioux  had  reserved  to  themselves.  They  attacked 
the  whites,  to  whose  aid  soldiers  were  sent.  One  band 
led  by  General  Custer  perished  to  a  man  on  the  Little 
Big-IIorn,  in  battle  with  confederate  Indians,  led  by 
Sitting  Bull,  a  Sioux  chief. 


>  InAno.  Indian,  said  to  signify 
"shining  mountains,"  more  fully  in 
torpretod  by  some  to  mean  "  i?em  of  the 
mounlainH."  Originally  part  c.i  Oregon. 
The  Territory  contaiuH  the  gnat  falls  of 
the  Shoshone,  or  Snake,  or  Lewis  River. 
Fremont's  Peak  is  its  great  landmark  on 
the  oast. 

-  Hoisft  (see  p.  241)  became  a  gov- 
ernment post  upon  our  occupation  of 
Oregon.  The  capital  was  first  fixed  at 
Lewiston,  then  removed  to  Holse. 

''  Wasiiinuton.     Hesides  ihe  excel- 
lence of    Its   harliors,   this  Territory  is 
noted  for  its  inexhaiistilile  forests,  thus 
making  it  a  great  luml)er  producing  re 
kIuu.    Iu    the    uustern     part    witeat    is 


grown,  and  there  arc  good  grazing 
lands. 

♦  Northern  PAfiFir  Railway 
unites  the  railway  and  water  systems  of 
the  (Ireat  Lakes  and  Upper  Mississippi 
with  the  I'acific.  It  is  the  route  forecast 
by  Jona.  Carver  in  I'titi.    (See  p.  149.) 

6  Montana.  The  name  is  simply 
descriptive  of  a  mountainous  region. 
Fort  Denton  was  named  for  Thomas  H. 
Renton.  From  this  point  returning  trap- 
pers or  traders  were  in  the  habit  of  float- 
ing down  llie  river  to  St.  Louis  in  canoes 
before  the  day  of  steamboats.  Fort 
Union  was  a  trading-post  established 
with  reference  to  the  Vellowstune  Val- 
ley route  to  the  mountains. 


326 


THE   WORK   OF   EIGHTY   YEARS. 


THE   WORK   OF  EIGHTY  YEARS. 

Our  story  closes  with  tlie  imtioiial  doiiijiin  completed 
within  limits  griiiider  thtiii  even  the  sjigacious  Jefl'ersoii 
had  h()i)ed  for.  Though  "peace  hath  her  victories," 
peaceful  development,  such  as  has  followed  the  settle- 
nuMit  of  gravej)olitical  questions,  alfoids  fewer  materi- 
als tor  history  than  the  stirring  records  of  war,  or  the 
annals  of  political  strife. 

The  West  shared  with  the  East  in  the  drain  made 
u[)(>n  its  resources  by  the  Secession  War.  Its  recovery 
froni  the  effects  of  that  war  has,  however,  been  so 
marked  that  to-day  all  traces  of  it  are  nearly  effaced 
from  its  outward  and  inward  life.  National  unity  is  no 
h)nger  a  thing  of  territorial  expansion,  as  with  the 
statesmen  of  Jefferson's  and  Benton's  time,  but  now 
means  a  perfect  union  of  the  whole  people  in  the  cause 
of  progress,  and  for  the  welfare  of  mankind.  In  that 
peaceful  conllict  the  once  hostile  sections  are  now 
engaged  with  a  praiseworthy  emulation. 

The  child  who  was  born  when  Lewis  and  Clarke  set 
out  for  the  Pacific,  may  now  be  the  living  witness  to 
what  we  have  called  the  marvel  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  It  is  true,  much  of  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
(Jreat  West  is  due  to  the  development  of  its  extraor- 
dinary mineral  wealth,  by  which  masses  of  population 
have  been  suddenly  moved  upon  particular  points,  so 
forcing  settlement  beyond  its  legitimate  growth. 

There  have  been^  however,  other  potent  agencies  at 
work  to  the  same  end.  Foremost  among  these,  always 
keeping  in  mind  the  constantly  improving  facilities  for 
moving  emigrants  into  the  West,  come  the  great   im- 


THE    WOUK    OF    KKillTV    YKAllS. 


327 


completed 

IS  Jefl'ersoii 

victories," 

the  settlo- 

ver  inateii- 

vvar,  or  the 

rain  made 
s  recovery 
Ijceii  so 
'ly  eft'aced 
iiiity  is  jio 

witli   the 

,  but  now 

the  cause 

.     In  that 

are   now 

^Larke  set 
vitness  to 
linetoentli 
iss  of  tlie 
3  extraor- 
opuhition 
points,  so 
h. 

encios  at 
e,  always 
ilities  for 
freat   im- 


provements made  in  mechanical  arts.  And  iirst  of  all 
we  should  class  the  reaping-ma(diine,  invented  l)y  Cyrus 
II.  McC'ormick,  which  is  thouu'lit  to  have  advanced  the 
line  of  civilization  westward  many  miles  each  year. 
Without  this  invention,  wliat  was  an  nniidial)it('(l  and 
unproductive  region  forty  years  ago  would  hardly  have 
been  converted  into  the  granary  of  the  continent,  with 
its  millions  of  p('o[)le,  its  nuirvellous  productiveness, 
and  its  growing  weight  in  the  nation.  In  the  East 
small  farms  are  the  rule  ; 
in  the  West,  the  excei)- 
tion.  The  difTerence,  at 
least,  seems  to  be  large- 
1}'  owing  to  the  grass- 
mower,  and  grain-rea})- 
ing  machines  that  were 
unknown  to  agricultur- 
ists of  a  former  genera- 
tion, though  allowance 
must  be  nuule  for  the 
better  conditions  of  soil,  which  more  generally  ada[)t  it 
for  cultivation,  (ireat  bodies  of  fertile  lands,  such  as 
exist  in  the  States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  are  un- 
known in  the  East. 

Then  the  building  of  the  Pacific  railways  has  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  rise  of  the  West.  Munificently 
endowed  by  Government  with  moneys  and  lands,  the 
sale  of  the  latter  to   settlers  became   an  instant  and 

the    building-up    of   the    unoccupied 
n  and  homestead  laws  the 


UEAPIN(i-MA(  UINK. 


)()1 


'try 


pre-emj) 


Government  has  also  offered  unusual  ])rivileges  to  all 
who  wished  to  settle  on  the  vacant  public  domain  ;  thus 
putting  within  the  reach  of  men  of  small  nu'ans,  the 


328 


THE   W0I;K   of   eighty    YEAllS. 


most  valiial)li'  and  productive  farming  lands  in  the 
world.  In  this  respect  no  government  has  done  so 
much  for  its  middle-class  population  as  ours.  And  no 
populati(>n  has  more  (iiiiekly  returned  to  the  giver  the 
benefits  it  has  received. 

One  other  active  means  to  the  making  of  the  Great 
West  should  not  be  overlooked.  Passing  by  the  ex- 
plorers, whose  names  are  familiar,  we  come  to  a  class  of 
men  whose  work  was  no  less  important  in  its  way. 
Trained  journalists  like  Horace  Greeley,  Samuel  Bowles, 
Albert  I).  Richardson,  Henry  Villard,  Thomas  W.  Kn«(X, 
and  William  Phillips,  did  much  to  make  the  West 
known  to  the  East  in  all  its  aspects,  whether  political, 
social,  or  economical,  so  depicting  its  inside  and  outside 
life  to  a  nudtitude  of  readers,  many  of  whom  became 
actual  emigrants  in  consecjuence. 

These  condjined  agencies,  all  working  together  in 
harmony,  have  produced  extraordinary  results.  For 
instance,  at  the  time  we  bought  it  all  Louisiana,  count- 
ing from  New  Orleans  to  the  Missouri,  had  only  about 
forty-live  thousand  i)eople.  In  1880,  under  not  quite 
eighty,  years  of  American  rule,  it  had  over  eleven 
millions,  or  more  than  twice  as  many  as  all  the  States 
had  when  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  us.  The  whole  j^opu- 
lation  of  French  and  Sjianish  Louisiana  did  not  ecpial 
that  of  IMinneapolis,  St.  Paul,  or  Kansas  City  at  the 
present  time,  neither  of  which  had  a  single  settler  at 
the  date  of  cession. 

Spain  thought  to  control  the  continent  with  a  few 
soldiers  and  missionaries.  Her  civilizsition,  barbaric  in 
its  origin,  is  mediieval  rather  than  modern.  In  America 
it  could  rise  no  hisfher  than  its  source.  Mexico  and 
Cuba,  two  of  its  earliest  conquests,  show  what  it  has 


THE   WOllK   OF   KKIHTY    YEARS. 


329 


(Is   in  the 

i   done  so 

And  no 

giver  the 

the  Great 
)y  the  ex- 
a  class  of 
its  way. 
}1  Bowles, 
W.  Knox, 
the  West 
'  political, 
id  outside 
n  became 

^ether  in 
Its.  For 
la,  count- 
Illy  abont 
lot  quite 
!r  eleven 
lie  States 
ole  popu- 
lot  ecjiial 
:y  at  the 
settler  at 


been  able  to  do  in  the  New  World  in  three  hundred  and 
tifty  years  of  rule. 

France  frittered  away  her  opportunities  in  schemes 
too  vast  for  the  time  or  the  means  appointed  for  their 
accomplishment.  It  is  the  story  of  force  without  fore- 
cast. Her  explorers  overran  the  country,  but  left  few 
substantial  footmarks  behind  them.  One  reads  French 
names  everywhere,  but  sees  no  cities  founded.  The 
policy  of  France,  like  that  of  Spain,  looked  more  to 
t^etting  a  revenue  from  America  than  colonizing  it. 
ilence  every  avenue  of  individual  effort  was  made  to 
lead  back  to  the  royal  exchequer. 

Now  let  the  man  who  is  not  yet  fifty  years  old  take 
down  the  geography  he  studied  when  a  schoolboy,  and 
l)ut  his  finger  in  the  middle  of  the  State  of  Iowa.  He 
will  have  touched  the  border  of  that  Great  American 
Desert  whose  story  we  have  been  telling  him. 


til  a  few 
rbaric  in 
America 
xico  and 
it  it  has 


IIP 


INDEX. 


Acoiua  visited  and  described  by 
tlio  Spaniards,  o5,  'M)  (note);  fur- 
tlier  description,  42,  43;  mission 
cluircb  of,  52. 

Adiuiis,  Jolin  Qnincy,  defends  the 
rif^ht  of  petition,  248. 

Alamo,  The,  243,  246  {note). 

Alaslca,  settlements  in  and  pnr- 
chase  of,  by  the  United  States,  142 
(note). 

Aleutian  Archipelago  discovered, 
141;  beginnings  of  the  fur-trade 
at,  141;  settlements,  142  (and 
note). 

Allouez,  Fr.  Claude,  goes  to  Lake 
Superior,  77;  goes  with  Dablon 
to  the  Wisconsin  River,  78. 

American  Fur  Company  organized, 
212. 

Apaches  of  New  Mexico,  255. 

Arizona,  missions  in, 38;  the  name, 
39  (note). 

Arizona  bought  of  Mexico,  288,  289. 

Arkansas  nation,  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette visit  them,  89;  towns,  90, 92 
(note);  called  "  handsome  men," 
91. 

Arkansas  Tost  in  1803,  178. 

Arkansas  River,  settlement  begun 
on,  127. 

Arkansas  Territory  settlements 
(1819),  222,  223  (note). 

Arkansas  ulmitted  to  the  Union, 

2^7.        ,..,..  u.,.. ... 
Ashburton  treaty,  239,  241  (note). 


Astor,  John  Jacob,  plans  an  cstalv 
lishment  on  the  Columbia,  212. 

Astoria  founded,  213;  sold,  214,  2.'iO, 
233  (note). 

Atchison,  David  R.,  299  (note). 

Atchison,  Kan.,  foundeil,  29(>,  299 
(note). 

Austin,  Stephen  F.,  goes  to  Texas, 
242. 

Behring,  Vitus,  sails  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery,  140,  142  (note);  de- 
termines the  separation  of  the 
continents,  140;  death,  141. 

Rent,  Charles,  governor  of  New 
Mexico,  254. 

Bent's  Fort,  241(»o/('),254, 2m(note). 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  227;  sent  to 
the  Senate,  229;  identified  with 
the  Oregon  question,  231;  meets 
Fremont,  2.M. 

Bienville,  123,  l.'M)  (note);  made  gov- 
ernor, 128;  founds  New  Orleans, 
128. 

Bison,  The,  first  mentioned,  36,  39 
(note). 

Black  Hills  located,  ISo. 

Boone,  Daniel,  leads  emigrants  to 
Kentucky,  1(55,  211  (note). 

Bonneville,  Benjamin  L.  E.,  visits 
Oregon,  232,  23.3  (note). 

Boundary  of  the  United  States, 
rectified  by  the  war  with  M<'xico, 
263. 

Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  ;504,  ."iO" 
(note). 

331 


332 


INI>KX. 


Iliittorfiold  Ovf'ilfind  Stago  Com- 
pany, ;U7,  .'520  Ointc). 

Button,  Sir  Thomas,  in  JEudson's 
Bay,  i:{;{. 

Cabrillo's  voyago,  (m  (nofe). 

Cache-ii-la-romlro  Kiver,  2^8,  241 
(note). 

California,  the  name,  nri,  (>5  (note); 
foaat  explored,  55-5!);  missions 
founded,  5!M);{;  commercial  pol- 
icy under  Spanish  rule,  (54,  (J5; 
coveted  by  the  United  States, 
25(i;  why,  257;  emigration  to,  2»i;! 
(nvt();  \vc  fail  to  huy  it,  258;  or 
separate  it  from  Mexico,  'JS8; 
England  suspected  of  coveting  it, 
258;  the  American  settlers  seize 
the  government,  2(51;  the  Hag 
raised  at  Monterey,  201;  con- 
quered, 2(!2;  in  revolt  again,  2(52; 
subdut^d,  2(w;  Mexico  cedes  it  to 
the  United  States,  203;  gold  dis- 
covered, 272;  rush  for  the  mines, 
274;  newspapers  of,  in  1848,  274, 
275  (note);  effect  on  the  country, 
278,  279  (note);  routes  to,  280,  281, 
282,  284  (note);  commerce  opened 
with  the  interior,  28i5;  population 
in  184it,  284;  under  military  gov- 
ernment, 285;  the  interregnum, 
285;  nuners'  courts,  28«;;  State 
government  formed,  287 ;  struggle 
in  Congress,  287;  admitted  to  the 
l^nion  a  free  State,  287;  Pacific 
Railroad  in,  318,  320  (note). 

Calumet, The,8n;  virtne oi,\)2(note). 

Canada,  com|uest  of,  140  (note). 

Cape  Flattery  named,  144, 140 (/to<c). 

Cape  Memlocino,  05  (iiote). 

Carson,  Christopher,  234;  stopped 
by  Gen.  Kearney,  25(5,  203  (note). 

Carver,  Jonathan,  his  idea,  149; 
gets  to  the  Mississippi,  150;  as- 
cends the  Minnesota,  151;  his 
"Travels,"  152. 

Cenis  Indians,  11(5,  117  (note). 


(Miamplain,  Samuel  do,  founds 
Quebec,  09;  at  Montreal,  71;  hears 
about  the  Great  Lakes,  71,  72;  a 
prisoner,  74,  79  (note). 

Charles  V.  (of  Spain),  events  of  liis 
reign,  4-8;  last  days  of,  53,  54; 
his  character,  81. 

Childs,  J.  B.,  on  the  way  to  Oregon, 
237. 

Chouteau,  Peter,  198,  204  (note). 

Cibola,  Father  Marco  goes  to,  32, 
39  (note). 

Clarke,  Williftm,  explores  Louisi- 
ana, 187,  191  (note).    See  Lewis. 

Clarke's  River  (Ore.)  named,  197. 

Clay,  Henry,  defesited  on  the  Texas 
issue  (1814),  245. 

Colorado,  gold  in,  208;  discoveries 
on  Cherry  Creek,  309;  Denver 
City  founded,  310;  great  rush 
of  gold-seekers,  310;  stage-route 
established  from  the  Missouri, 
311;  discoveries  tm  Clear  Creek, 
312;  Gregory,  312;  other  settle- 
ments, 313;  surface  diggings  give 
out,  314;  but  gold  quartz  struck, 
314;  a  State,  322. 

Colorado  River  explored,  33;  the 
name,  39  (note). 

Colorado  Desert  crossed,  05. 

Columbia  River  missed  by  Cook, 
145;  and  Vancouver,  140  (note); 
discovered,  101,  102  (note),  191 
(note);  a  bone  of  contention,  230, 
2.33  (note). 

Columbia,  the  ship,  100,  101,  162 
(7iote). 

Columbus,  Christopher,  fails  to  find 
the  way  to  India,  3;  result  of  his 
discoveries,  3;  his  death,  4. 

Cook,  James,  sent  to  the   Pacific, 

143,  140  (note);  discovers  Sand- 
wich Islands,  144;  names  Cape 
Flattery  and  Mount  Edgecumbe, 

144,  145;  tries  to  sail  east  to  Hud- 
son's Bay,  145;  his  death,  140. 


INDEX. 


dc,  founds 
real, 71;  ln-ars 
ikes,  71,  72;  a 

events  of  lii.s 
ys  of,  53,  W; 

ay  to  Oregon, 

2(M  (note). 
»  goes  to,  32, 

lores  Loiiisi- 
See  Lewis, 
named,  1{)7. 
on  the  Texas 

i;  discoveries 
309;  Denver 
great  rush 
;  stage-route 
tie  Missouri, 
Clear  Creek, 
otlier  settle- 
liggings  give 
lartz  struck, 

red,  33;  the 

d,  05. 

id  by  Cook, 

,  146  (note); 

(7Wte),    191 

tention,  230, 

GO,   161,  162 

,  fails  to  find 
esult  of  his 
ith,  4. 

the  Pacific, 
•vers  Sand- 
ames  Cape 
dgecumbe, 
ast  to  Hud- 
atli,  146. 


Coppermine  River  explored,  1.17. 

Coronatlo,  Viiscjuez  ile,  explores 
New  Mexift),  .'VJ,  ;{'.» (note). 

Cortez,  Hernan«lo,  in  Mexico,  7; 
reaches  tl»e  Great  South  Sea,  7. 

Council  Bluffs,  visited  antl  named, 
188;  Long  winters  tln^re,  221. 

Coureurs  dc  Hois,  126,  VH)  (notr). 

Crozat,  Anthony,  his  uaonoiioly, 
124,  12(;. 

Cuba,  importance  of,  to  Spanish 
conipiests  in  America,  4. 

Custer,  George  A.,  killed  in  battle, 
325. 

Dablou,  Fr.  Claude,  founds  mission 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  78,  80  (note). 

Dakota,  great  progress  in,  324. 

De  Fuca,  Juan,  discovers  Straits 
of  Fuca,  59. 

Dubuque,  Julicn,  in  Iowa,  183. 

Denver  City  founded,  310;  in  1859, 
313,  314  (note). 

Denver,  James  W.,  2*)i)  (note),  310. 

De  Soto,  Hernando,  lands  in  Flori- 
da, 11;  his  army,  11,  12;  cruel 
conduct  toward  the  natives,  13, 14, 
22;  his  wonderful  marches,  15, 17 
(note);  escape  of  his  followers,  16; 
death  and  burial,  18;  described, 
17  (note). 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  author  of 
"  Popular  Soven-ignty,"  288. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  reaches  Cali- 
fornia, 56;  takes  possession,  and 
names  it  New  Albion,  57;  his 
port,  C)Ct  (note). 

EI  Dorado.  The  Spaniards  seek  it 
in  Florida,  14;  the  Indians  mis- 
lead them,  28  (note). 

El  Paso  del  Norte  founded,  37;  in 
1807,208. 

Elizabeth  of  England,  her  charac- 
ter, 147. 

England  claims  the  North-west 
coajit,  \4(t(note);  loses  her  Amer- 
ican coUmies,  165. 


Falls  of  St.  Anthony  named,  107. 

IW   (unit);     Indian    superstition 

about,  151. 
Firi'-worsliip,  4(). 
Florida  discovt^red  and  named,  6; 

its  extent,  (i,  7;  initial  point,  7.  9 

(note);    De   Soto  invades   it,    11; 

Indians  of,  20-28;  <'ed«'d  back  to 

Spain,  ll»4. 
Fontaine    ipii     bouille,    314    (and 

nii(r). 

Fort  Boise,  2.".3  (imfc);  Fremont 
th(!re,  238,241  (imtr);  matle  capital 
of  Idaho,  323,  325  (note). 

Fort  Chipcwyan,  138,  139(y^o^). 

Fort  Crcvecieur,  101,  104  (imtr). 

Fort  Hall,  233  (note),  2:'.8. 

Fort  Kearney,  Neb.,  294. 

Fort  Laramie,  2;)5,  241  (//o^■). 

Fort  Leavenworth,  293,  2iW  (note).. 

VoTt  Prudhomme,  103,  104  (note). 

Fort  Riley,  Kan.,  293. 

Fort  Scott,  Kan.,  2t)4. 

Fort  Smith,  22.{  (note). 

Fort  Walla  Walla,  238. 

France  contends  with  Spain  for 
dominion,  and  is  dt'tcated,  6; 
cedes  Louisiana  to  S()ain,  163; 
plays  her  own  game,  16S  (noti); 
attitude  hostile  toward  us,  171; 
sells  us  Louisiana,  174. 

Free-soil  party  formed,  2'.K). 

Fremont,  J.  C,  meets  Senator 
Benton,  2:54;  sent  to  explore 
South  Pass,  234;  ascends  Fr<"- 
moui.  s  Peak,  2.'{6;  what  he  ac- 
complished or  recommended,  2.'«»; 
corrects  the  popular  error  about 
the  Great  Desert,  2;J6;  sent  to  the 
Lower  Columbia,  237;  finds  a 
new  pass  through  the  Rockies, 
2;38;  explores  Great  Salt  Lake, 
2{iH;  in  California,  25<J;  is  there 
again  as  war  is  impending,  2.'>8; 
ordered  out  of  tlu;  coiintrj',  259; 
heads  the  American  settlers  in  a 


334 


INDEX. 


revolt  against  tlin  Moxican  Oov- 
cniinciit,  'J(!0. 

KmiKi'ifs  I'tiiik  jiscciidcd,  '_'.'«). 

Frttiuh  Spuliatioii  Ftiiul,  its  origin, 
174. 

FrontiMiac  (I.ouis  do  HtmdiO  (^untc 
d<',  nmdc  govcnioi-  uf  Canada, 
h;{;  liis  cliaractcr,  H4;  builds  a 
jtost  on  I^ake  Ontario,  !i7. 

Garrison,  William  liloyd,  leads 
anti-slavcr.v  men,  -47. 

Gilpin,  William,  predicts  mineral 
wealth  «»f  Iloeky  Mountains,  ;;08. 

Golden  Gate  named,  'JT'.l  (""'')• 

Gray,  Robert,  tirst  sails  into  the 
Columbia  River,  l()l,  W2  (ii«fr). 

Great  American  Desert  deserilied 
by  Long,  '-"j;t;  its  bearing  on  the 
Oregon  (luestion,  li.H;  Fremont 
corrects  the  pojmlar  <irror,'J;{(!;  its 
present  cotidition,  .'{'J"),  .">'J!». 

Great  Salt  Lake;  first  mentioned. 

Great  Salt  Lakcf  explored  by 
Fremont, 'j;5H,  241  (i)<>f,). 

Gregory  Diggings,  Col.,  ;il'j. 

Gregory,  John  If.,  finds  gold  on 
Clear  Creek,  Col.,  :?12. 

Gulf  of  California,  missions  on,  ;><S. 

Gulf  of  ^lexico,  early  knowledge 
of,  10,  17  (note);  coasts  described, 
114. 

Ilearne,  Samuel,  goes  to  Copper- 
tnine  River,  1:57. 

Hennepin,  Fr.  Louis,  09;  sent  by 
La  Salle  to  explore  the  Lower 
Illinois,  101;  described,  105,  KXl; 
ascends  the  Upper  Mississipiii, 
lOf);  taken  by  Sioux,  10(5;  names 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  107;  re- 
leased by  Freneli  traders,  lOS; 
his  account  of  his  explorations, 
lOil  {H<,te). 

Hot  Springs  of  th«'  Washita,  232. 

Houston,  Samuel,  made  president 
of  Texas,  24:t. 


Hudson,  Henry,  1^2,  i:r.  (mtr). 

Hudson's  Ray  explored,  i:i2,  l.'{:^, 

Hudson's  Ray  Cnmpany  formed, 
i;>4;  its  early  struggles,  i;{4;  in- 
tent of  the  grant,  I'M, 

Humboldt    Mountains    and    Rivi  r 


named 


:.H. 


Hurous,  71,  72;  driven  from  Lake 
Huron,  70,  7*.i  (noti). 

Iberville,  Le  M.»yne  de,  lis,  12.; 
(note);  arrives  at  I'ensaeola,  1I'.>, 
ami  Mobile  Ray,  H'.l;  in  the  ^^s- 
sissipjti  River,  120;  gets  a  letter 
froui  La  Salle,  IJO;  forms  settle- 
ments in  Riloxi  Ray  and  Moliile, 
121;  death,  12:1. 


IdalK 


.'.•{. 


(mtlr). 


Illinois  natiiin,  .loliet  and  Mar- 
quette among,  ss. 

I.vniANS  oi'  FLoKin.\,  earliest  ae- 
counts  of  them,  20;  arms  an<l  iin- 
plenuMits,  21 ;  singular  tradition 
about  the  whites,  24;  villagi.'s,  24, 
2.1;  dre.ss,  2't,  2<);  worship,  2(); 
mode  of  life,  27.  Nkw  Mkxko, 
their  houses  ami  villages,  ;U,  ',>r>, 
40-4;{;  folk-lore,  45-4i>;  customs, 
50;  government,  52;  Rimos  In- 
dians, :\\)  (hole).  Gkeat  Lakks, 
Ilurons,  71-72  ;  Inxpiois,  72. 
Califokxia,  do  honor  to  Drake, 
.5(i;  as  inhabitants  of  missions, 
01-<>4  ;  in  mines,  270.  Hidson's 
Ray,  1:!7.  VANcorvKii  Isi.am>, 
144  {ni)((>).  NoHTH-wKST  Teuki- 
Toiiv,  lt!8.  Okecox,  1!)4-1W,  107 
(note);  missions  among, 2;{.'{(»(»^), 
Kansas,  20.'{.  Texas,  242.  Grkat 
Ri.AiNs,  1H(),  221.  {Sre  also  under 
various  tribal  names.) 

Iowa  admitted  to  the  Union, 
248. 

Irocjuois,  72;  they  block  up  Lake;; 
Ontario  and  Erie  to  the  French, 
7(5;  ccunpier  and  disperse  the 
IIur<»ns,  7(5,  70  (n<U>). 


TNDf^X. 


saf] 


,  lai  (}Wtr). 
r.'<l,  IM'J.  lX^. 
iipaiiy  loniicil, 
i'AiXh'H,  Ml;    in. 

i;t(i. 

lis    and    llivti 

•CM  from   Lakf 

)• 

0  do,  IIH,  IJ.J 
I'i'iisacolji,  ll'J, 
r.i;  ill  tho  Mis- 
I;  g<'ts  a  Icttrr 
i;  forms  scttlc- 
ly  and  Motiilr, 


let    and    Mar- 

i.\,  <>arli('.st  ai-- 
;  arms  and  im- 
;ular  tradition 
f4;  viila-..s,  Jl, 

worship,  'Jfi; 
Nkw  Mexico, 
illa,ii;f'H,  'M,  :\r>, 

4'.l;  customs, 

'•  I'imos  lu- 
lu EAT  IjAkes, 

Iroquois,    72. 

uor  to  Drakf, 
of  missions, 

•••.  IIidson's 
rvKK  Isr-ANH. 

-WEST  TeHHI- 

,-,  l!)4-infi,  lii7 
)u<j:,2;{:{(«()^'). 
s,242.  Great 
v'c  also  under 
s.) 
the     Union, 


)_' 


)ck  up  Lake» 

»  the  French, 

lisperse    the 


Tsthinus  of  Daricn  crossed  l»y  Hal- 
hoa,  7. 

.fefTerson,  Tliomas,  moves  to  un- 
ravel the  Mississipjti  ipu'stiou, 
17'J;  sets  exphiration  of  Louisiana 
on  foot,  184;  setuls  Lewis  and 
Clarke  to  the  raciflc,  1S7. 

Jesuit  missionaries  in  Canada,  74, 

7!l  {linlr). 

.Toliet,  Louis,  sent  to  find  the  Mis- 
sissippi Itiver,  with  Marquette, 
S5  ;  reaches  it,  H~  ;  visits  the 
Illinois,  88;  rcitchesthe  Arkansas 
nation, ItO;  turns  l»ack,iU,!i2(/t'7<f ). 

Kansas  expIor»'d  l»y  Pike,  2(K). 

Kansas,  parties  to  the  stru;;;;;le  over, 
2*.K>;  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nc- 
hnuska  Act,  2<»2;  described,  2!t2: 
adapted  to  slave  labor,  21U;  first 
advantages  with  the  itarty  of 
slavery,  21C;  emigration  to,  2iH>; 
tirst  settlements  in,  2'>»;  Free- 
State  settlements.  2!ts,  2W  (notr); 
Missouriansscizti  Territorial  gov- 
ernment, ;502;  Topeka  Constitu- 
tion, .■>02;  Lawrence  besieged,  .'M.)2; 
Free-State  leaders  held  for  trea- 
son, J}03;  Lawrence  suffers  from 
outrages,  .'t().'5;  Free-State  legisla- 
lature  dispersed,  .'i03;  Free-Statt^ 
leaders,  '.'AM;  in  a  state  of  anarchy. 
.T05;'  Lecompton  Constitution 
formed, ."iO."!;  defeated,. "0(>;  ballot- 
stulting,  ."50(5;  admitted  to  the 
Union,  ."20. 

Kansas  Citjs  begiinings  of,  2.'>4, 
241  (note). 

Kearney,  Stephen  W.,  marches  to 
New  Mexico,  2.VJ;  tak<'s  posses- 
sion, 254;  goes  on  to  California, 
255, 25G  (note) ;  beaten  at  San  Pas- 
qual,  2(1.3. 

Kendrick,  John,  sails  through  the 
Straits  of  Fm-a,  147  (notf),  MS. 

Kentucky  admitted  to  the  Union, 
H»7. 


Kino,  Fr.   Eusebius,   founds    mi.s- 

sious,  ;w. 
La  Chine,  origin  of  name,  IW>,  W 

(lint,). 

Lacli'de,  Pit'rre,  founds  St.  Louis. 

17'.»,  \K\(untv). 

Lake  Michigan,  '.>2  (n'U). 

Lake  IVpin,  107,  \m(itnt,). 

Lake  Superior  Indians  at  Quebec, 
77. 

Lanr',  James  II.,  :50|,  .'{07  (note). 

La  I'cyrouse,  04,  <>0  (tmti). 

Larkin,  Tiiomas  C).,  'It'A  (ho<*>); 
describes  goM  dis«'overy,  274, 
275. 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavelier  de,  dc- 
scrilied,  0.'{, '4;  goes  in  search  of 
the  Ohio,  1»7;  Frontenac  his 
frit'nd,  '.t7;  plans  a  colony  at 
mouth  of  the  .^lississippi,  '.IS;  gets 
a  patent  from  Louis  XIV.,  1»8,  *J.) 
(iioti:);  buihls  a  fort  an»l  vessel  on 
Niagara  Iliver,  W;  sails  for  (Ireen 
Hay,  KM);  starts  hence  for  the 
Mississippi  Iliver,  and  descends 
the  Illinois,  101;  winters  among 
the  Illinois,  101;  returns  to  Fron- 
tiMiac,  101;  again  sets  out,  102; 
finds  Creveco'ur  in  ruins  and 
deserted.  102;  makes  a  third 
attempt,  10;i;  buihls  Fort  Prud- 
homme,  10."i;  reaches  the  Gulf  and 
takes  possession  of  Louisiana, 
10:5, 104;  goes  to  France,  111:  sails 
fftr  the  Mississippi  Iliver,  112; 
lands  on  the  coa.st  of  Texas,  112; 
a  chaj)ter  of  disasters,  ll.'J;  buihls 
Fort  St.  Louis  on  Lava<'a  Iliver, 
11.'!;  .sets  out  for  the  Mississippi, 
115;  is  killed,  117  (and  note); 
name  honored.  12;?  ()i>>te). 

Law,  John,  his  Mississippi  scheme, 
12(5,  i;50  (notf). 

Lawrence,  Kan.,  founded,  2(»S.  2^M} 
(noti);  besieged,  ."102;  de.struetit>n 
of  property  at,  .'MKJ. 


33G 


INDEX. 


Leavenworth,  Kan.,  foniulfMl,  2<N», 

2r«»  (nnfr). 

lAH'uui\tti}U  sctthul,  2«»7,  2*.K)  (/lo/*); 
pnKslavery  i»arty  I'oriii  a  Slate 
coii.Htitiitioti  at,  'MCt. 

L«-«lyanl,  John,  144,  H't;  his  i<h-a, 
lo:\,\rAi{n(>ti');  adcsfrtcr,  ir)4;  {^(U's 
to  Franc*',  l'»4;  .JelTi!r.s<)n'.s  advice 
tiikcn,  i.V»;  attempts  to  reach  tin' 
north-west  c-oast  hy  way  of  Kaui- 
schatka,  and  fails,  l.'iO. 

Ixjwis,  Merri wether,  (sxplores  Ldu- 
isiana,  1S7,  VM  (note);  ascends 
the  Missouri,  18H ;  anion;;  the 
Mandans,  18ii;  reaches  tin;  Great 
Falls,  I'.M;  sets  out  across  tlie 
luountains,  1!>2 ;  l>rin)j;s  hack 
guitles  and  horses,  VM;  sufferiny;s 
iu  the  mountains,  l<.i.*i;  reaches 
I^'wis  Kiv(;r,  !"•');  «lcscends  the 
Colunihia,  1*.>5;  a*. 'I  reaches  tiic 
sea,  1U7. 

Lewis  River  (Snake  lliver  of 
Ore;jon),  named,  l'.)5. 

Little  Hock,  '22.i  {note). 

Liviu}JCston,  Ilohert  11.,  opens  iicfjo- 
tiations  for  the  purcliase  of 
Louisiana,  17.>,  17')  (note). 

lAmfi,  Stephen  Ilarriman,  .sent  to 
explore  the  Platte  Valley,  210; 
;uH«-ends  tht!  Mi.ssouri  in  a  steam- 
iKnit,  2I'.l,  'J2:{  (nitti);  winters  near 
Council  ItlufTs,  'J*.'! ;  ^oes  «lown 
the  South  IMatte  to  the  moun- 
tains, 222;  thence  hy  th*!  Cana- 
dian to  Fort  Smith,  222  :  pro- 
nounees  the  (rreat  Plains  a 
desert,  22:{. 

I^uiy's  Peak  a.scentled,  222. 

Louis  XIV.,  lN-^inniu}{  of  his  reign, 
81;    its  eliarvcter  descrihed,  i:<0 

(nnle). 

Louisiana,  the  name,  ll>4  ;  La 
Salle's  cohuiy,  KKi,  I2;t  {nntr); 
IlM>rville's  colony,  IIH;  under 
Croxat,  12ri;  under  Law,  12(>;  set- 


tlomonts  hegun,  127;  coded  to 
Spain,  lt;;{;  upper  settlements, 
Wt;  lower  settlements,  1(17;  cednl 
to  the  United  States,  174;  set  lie- 
metits  and  population  in  iso:;, 
17(;-l.s;i;  a  State,  214, 

L«)uisville  foiuuled,  1«58. 

Mackenzie,  AIexan«ler,  discovers 
the  Miicken/ie  lliver,  l.lX; 
reaches  the  Pacific.  i:«), 

Mandau  tra<lition,  .'{U  (H'»^■). 

.Marco  de  Niza  explores  N<\v 
Mexico.  :{2,  ;«)  {,wlr). 

Marquette,  Fr.  .Ianu?s,  };oes  to  Lake 
Superior,  78,  S()  (noti);  goes  with 
Joliet  to  find  the  Mi.ssissi|)|(i 
lliver  (.see  Joliet). 

Marsliall,  James  W.,  discovers  gol.l 
in  California,  272. 

M(;iido/.a,  Antonio  de,  sends  ex- 
jilorers  into  Nc  v  Mt!xico,  :{2. 

McCormick,  Cyrus  II.,  his  reaping- 
machine,  ;>27. 

Meranuic  lead-mines,  182. 

Mexico,  conquest  of,  .">;  an  historic 
initial-point,  7. 

Mexico,  war  with  her,  '2riO  ()n>li); 
it  is  unpopular  iu  the  North, 'J.'il 
(iiott);  peace  auil  its  results,  2i>;<. 

Minne.sota  explored  hy  Iltuiuepin, 
l(r>-107;  hy  C'arver,  ir»0-l.")2;  posts 
in,  \H:\;  hy  Pike,  1<.»S;  hy  Nicollet 
and  Fremont,  2.'U,  241  (note);  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union,  '.VYJ. 

Mississippi  lliver,  Th«'.  nearly  dis- 
covered. It);  De  Soto  tinds  it,  1(5; 
name,  17  {nnte);  the  Sioux  de- 
H«'rihe  it,  78,  80  {iioti');  nctpures  a 
first  importance  with  tlu'  French, 
82;  failles  iilM)ut,  8«»;  explored  hy 
Joliet  and  .Marqu<!tte,  8.V{»2;  hy 
La  Salle,  UYA,  104. 

Mississippi  Territory  formed,  107. 

Missions  in  New  Mexi«'o,  ;<7;  in 
California,  «!0-«»4,  <M{  (noti'):  on 
Lake  Huron,  74,7.';  Lake  Supo- 


INDEX. 


337 


127;    rolled    in 

cr     St'ttloilKMltS, 

icnts,  HIT;  crdcil 
ite.s,  174;  si-ttli'- 
lation   in   Lso:;, 
!14. 
1»W. 

IliltT,     lliSt^OVtTS 

Uivor,      i:W; 
i.-.  i:«». 
W  (nolv). 
<;xpl<n't'S     N»\v 

.Ot>'). 

los,  iioi'n  to  Laki' 

noft);  }»o(;s  witli 

tlu!    Mis.Hissi|i|(i 

I. 

'.,  discovers  gold 

• 

)    de,   sends  «'\- 
/  Mtixico,  ;{'i. 
II,,  Ids  roiipiii;!- 

•s,  182. 

»f,  r»;  an  historic 

her,  'irrf)  (»lo^); 
I  ihc  North,  •-'.'d 
its  results,  'JCht. 
d  hy  Ilciincpiii, 
r,  ir»<)-l.VJ;  posts 
IMS;  1).V  Nic<dlrt 
»,  -Jll  (««<(');  !»•!- 
oil,  :M)7. 
The.  iifiuly  dis- 

>to  tiiids  it,  111; 

the  Sioux  de- 
lott);  acquires  a 

itli  the  French, 
S«»;  explored  hy 
iictte,  H-Vtri;    J.y 


'.V 


fornuid,  107. 

Mexico,   a7;  in 

«>«>    (noli):    «)n 

7.".;  liuke  Supe- 


rior, 77,  78,  7!);  Oregon,  2.'^:5  (H"^f), 
iW,  240;  Texas,  24(i  (ii(>(<);  Kan- 
sas, 2'.».J. 

Missouri,  settlements  in,  181'),  2r.i; 
struggle  ovt^r  her  adnnssion  as  a 
State,  22:V-227;  her  growth.,  228. 

Missouri  Coniproinise,  the,  220;  set 
aside,  2!l2,  2!t4  (tn^tr). 

Missouri  R'^-er  tirst  ntentioned,  80, 
J»2  (note);  its  sources  unknown 
17S:?,  102,  lOH (noh),  185,  I'.H  (notr). 

Monroe  Doctrine  enunciated,  231, 
2:5:;  (note). 

Montana,  .'W.-l,  .^2.")  (noli). 

Monterey  visited,  W;  mission  at, 
01;  name,  00  (ni>((). 

Montezuma,  48,  !\2  (noli). 

Murinons  as  soldiers,  '2'>'.\;  riso  of 
the  sect,  '2CtH  (note);  decide  to  go 
to  Salt  Lake,  and  why,  20(>;  their 
city,  2(i(),  208  (note);  their  growth, 
207;  and  creed, 207;  in  California, 
27.'i,  27.">  (note). 

Mormon  Diggings,  27.1,  274,  27."> 
(niitr). 

Moscoso,  TiUis  de,  snoeeeds  De  Soto 
and  saves  his  nu-n,  17  (iiotv),  18. 

Mount  St.  Elias  discovered,  141. 

Natchez  Indians,  12;i,  124. 

Natchez,  its  imimrtance  to  Louisi- 
ana, 12:{;  fort  at,  124. 

Natchitoches  occupied  hy  French, 
124,  i:«)  (notr). 

Nel>raska,  Act  forming  the  Terri- 
tory, 2!»2;  not  adapted  ft»r  slave 
lahor, 2i>4;  Pacific  itailroad  heg\in 
in,  ;?18,  :VJO  (/lo^•);  growth  of,  321 ; 
admitted  to  the  Union,  .'521,  322 
(notr). 

New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Com- 
pany, 2'.>7,  2!M»  («<»(<•). 

New  .Madrid,  178,  18.{(»oN). 

New  Mexico  first  explored  hy 
Marco  de  Niza  and  Vas«piez  de 
C<tronado,  ',V2;  fallacies  concern- 
ing it,  ;U);  ohstucles  in  the  way, 


.".(I;  second  exploration,  "•.■'■;  third 
do.,  ;>">,  .'.4;  villages  and  pcftple 
descrihed,  'M,  .T);  nam(>d,  .">.'»;  col- 
oniz«Ml,  ;i7;  missions  in,.'57;  native 
insitrrection  in,;>7;  new  invasion, 
;W;  native  cities  descrihed.  40-44; 
in  1807,  2(r.-208;  its  importance 
to  emigration,  2."»1,  2.')-';  Kearney 
sent  to  take  it,  2.')2;  yields  with- 
out fighting,  254;  insurrection  at 
Taos,  2.'>0  ((/o^');  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  20:!. 

N<!W  Orleans  founded,  128,  I.IO 
(note)',  descrihed  hy  Charlevoix, 
12!»;  in  180:{,  177,  178;  attempt  <)f 
England  to  seize,  214. 

Nevada,  rise  of,  321;  u  State,  321, 
.'V22  (not>). 

Nez  IVrccs  mission,  2.38. 

Niagara  Iliver  and  Falls,  74,  70 
(note);  seized  hy  La  Salle,  {«»,  104 

(noir). 

Ni<'olet,  Jean,  at  Green  Bay,  7.",  70 
(note). 

Nootka  Sound,  140  (nntr). 

North-west  Company,  18:{  {n<>t(). 

North-west  Territory  formed  and 
slavery  exdudiMl,  Km;  area  and 
jiopulation,  KM),  l(\i^  (note). 

Northern  Pacific  Railway,  .•J23,  .S25 
(note). 

Nueces  River,  240,  2.'1  (nntr). 

Ohio  River  a  lioundary  hetween 
slave  and  free  States,  10."». 

Omaha,  321,  .322  («o^  ). 

Ordinance  of  1787,  Km. 

Oregon,  name  first  mentioned,  l.Ti, 
1.'53  (nolr). 

Oregon,  first  American  ostahlish- 
nn^nts  in,  212;  213;  rivalries  of 
the  fur-traders,  22!»;  (piarrel  with 
England  ahoiit  l)oundary,  2;>0; 
)>uh"c  opinion  ahout  Oregon,  231 ; 
various  settlements  in,  2;''2,  2.3.3 
(nntrs);  effort  to  keep  Americans 
out  of,  230;  Dr.  Whitman's  heroic 


338 


INDKX. 


••(Torts  to  win  Orogon  for  us,  2;H»; 
Aslil)urtoii  tn'iity,  2.{'.t;  Willa- 
iiu'tt*'  Valley  being  settled,  241t; 
iulniitted  t«t  tlie  Union,  307. 

Oregon  trail,  *J2!»,  'IMi  (note);  Fre- 
mont explores,  2'M,  2.'{r>;  hard 
travelling  it,  2:J'.>, 

I'aeitle  Ocean,  or  Great  South  Sea, 
n-aelied  l»y  Balboa  and  Corte/,  7. 

Pacific  Railroad  talked  ot,~'u;  on 
the  frontier,  .'$1(5;  authorized,  .S'jo 
(note);  begun  during  the  civil 
war,  yiS;  attacked  by  Indians, 
:>1".»;  completed,  ;il!t;  (!(Te(;t  on  the 
growth  of  the  Great  West,  u27. 

I'cnsacola,  lilt,  V2:\(notr). 

Peter  tin;  Great  attempts  discov- 
eries in  the  North-West,  140. 

Philip  II.  (of  Spain),  last  days  of, 
r>."?,  54;  l»is  chara<'ter,  SI. 

Pierc3,  Franklin,  elected  President, 
202,204  (note). 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  explores  the 
Arkansas,  1  OS,  204  (note);  in  Kan- 
sjis,  200;  among  the  Pa'.vn<'es,  200; 
a.scends  Pike's  Peak,  202;  lost  in 
the  mountains,  20.");  taken  t(» 
Santa  Fi-,  20;{. 

Pike's  Peak  ascended  and  named, 
202;  tirst  name  for  Colorado  gold- 
mines, ".OO. 

Pinu'ria,  ."W,  .'JO  (note). 

Platte  Pvivcr,  IST),  101  (note), 

Platte  Valley,  Long  explores  it, 
210, 

Polk,  James  K.,  24(5  (and  note). 

Pon«-o  do  Leon,  Juan,  discovers 
Florida,  0. 

I'ony  express,  .'?10,  IVJO  (note). 

I'rairi*'  du  C'hi»'n,  Joliet  at,  H7; 
Jonathan  Carver  at,  152;  in  ISO.!, 

k;. 

Prince  Unpert  fo\inds  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  l.'U,  l."{5  (note). 

Pursley,  James,  disi'overs  gold  in 
Colorado,  210. 


Quebec  founded,  00;  taken,  75. 

Ilobinson,  Charles,  in  Kansas,  2W\ 
indicted  for  treason,  ;J02,  ".07 
(note). 

Russian  American  Company,  142. 

St.  Charles  (Mo.),  1S:{  (m'te). 

San  Diego  visited,  .50;  mission  at, 
<)1. 

St.  Domingo,  110,  12.3  (note). 

St.  Genevieve,  18;$  (note), 

San  Franci-sco,  mission  founded, 
(il. 

San  Francisco  in  1840,  282,  2S4 
(note). 

Santa  Fe  f«umded,  .">7;  in  1807,  20t;; 
taken  by  (Jen.  Kearney,  254. 

Santa  Fe  Trail,  220,  2:V.i  (note). 

San  Jacinto,  24.3,  240  (note). 

St.  Lawnmce  River,  route  of 
French  discovery  and  sittlr- 
ment,  08;  ascended  by  Carticr 
and  Champlain,  00,  71  (note);  the 
key  of  the  continent,  GO. 

St.  Louis,  ris.;  of,  170;  in  1803,  ISl. 
182;  in  ISKi,  227. 

St.  Louis  of  Texas  (La  Salle's  col- 
ony), 114,  117  (iioti). 

St.  Paul,  107,  10".)  (note). 

St.  Vraiu's  Fort,  2:5."),  241  (note). 

Sacramento  City  founded,  28;>. 

Salt  Lake  City  laid  out,  2(ki,  'JOH 
(not<). 

Sandwich  Islantls,  di.scovered,  144: 
named,  140  (note). 

Sault  St«'.  Mari«',  |>ossessiou  taken 
of  the  (Jrcat  West  by  France,  70. 

Scott,  Wiulield,  contpiest  of  Mex- 
ico, 203. 

Sitka  founded,  142  (nfjte). 

Sioux,  first  meeting  witli  whites, 
77;    Ilcsnnepin   among,   KHi,   lo7. 

101»  (Wite). 

Sioux  War  (1870),  325. 

Slavery  introduceil  by  De  St)t<' 
into  Florida,  13;  as  pra«'tised  by 
the    Indians,    17  (note):    African 


• 


INDKX. 


330 


184S),  282,    284 


.a  Salle's  col- 


iscovered,  144: 

^session  tukfii 
liy  Franc*',  ''•. 
i|H«'st  of  M«'.\- 


slavcrj*  in  Louisiana,  127,  l;u» 
(iintc);  «'xclu(l«'»l  from  the  Ncrtli- 
w«'8t  Territory,  Km;  admitted  to 
Missouri,  22:5-227;  in  Texas,  24:'.. 
244;  Ihtoum'  a  sectional  issue, 
24();  party  formed  to  antagonize 
it,  247;  petitions  aj^ainst,  refused 
liy  Congress,  248;  struggle  over 
tile  admission  of  California,  287; 
contest  in  Kansas,  28!>. 

Soiitlieni  I'acilic  Railway,  <>5. 

South  Pass,  Fremont  sent  to  ex- 
plore it,  234,  241  (note). 

South  Sea,  The.    Sec  Pacific  Ocean. 

Si)ain  mistress  of  the  seas,  2  ;  what 
Columbus  ilid  for,  3;  ilivides  witli 
Portugal  dominion  in  the  East 
and  West,  3,  4;  sends  expeditions 
to  Florida  and  Mexico,  4;  reign 
of  Charles  V.,  4-8;  her  invinci- 
l)ility  broken,  50,  (Ki  (nolc);  giv»'S 
tip  Vancouver  Island  to  England, 
14(>  (iiiitc);  I'laim  to  north-west 
coast,  l.W;  gets  back  Louisiana, 
1(;3;  and  Florida,  1G4;  shuts  up 
New  Orleans  to  our  commerce, 
172,  17")  {uolcs  2  and  3)\  loses 
Mexi<o,  241. 

fitejinilioat  first  uavig.ates  the  Mi.s- 
souri,  21!i. 

Stockton,  Robert  F.,  2(>1;  conquers 
California,  2<)2. 

Stockton,  Cal.,  founded,  28.3. 

Straits  of  Fiica  discovered,  .''»!»; 
explored,  140  (note). 

Sutter's  Fort,  2,5(),  2(i3  (noU);  Fre- 
mont's headcpiarters  at,  2()0. 

Taylor,  Zaciiary,  commands  in 
Mexico,  250,  2('..3. 

Tennessee  admitted  to  the  Union, 
1()7. 


San 


32.J 


Terra  Firma,  0  (note). 

Texas,  118  (/(«^e;  sie  also  St.  Louis 
of  Texas);  Americans  invitetl  to, 
241:  in  1821,  242,  24<!  {not();  emi- 
gration, 2;  and  its  character,  243; 
revolts  against  Mexico,  24.3;  con- 
quers her  independence,  24.3;  ajv 
l»lies  for  admission  to  the  l^nion, 
244;  is  opposed  i)y  tlui  North,  24r»: 
but  comes  in,  24(»;  her  boundary 
in  dispute,  240. 

Topeka  Constitution,  .307  (nok). 

L'tah,  207,  20S  (naU). 

Vanciouver,  Creorge,  140()(r»^'). 

Vizcaino,    S»'bastian,    enters 
Diego  and  Monterey,  .'i'.t. 

Washington    Territory,     323, 
(noti). 

Web.Hter,  Daniel,  his  attitude 
toward  slavery  in  new  States, 
201,  294  (note). 

Whitman,  Marcus,  founds  a  mi.s- 
sion  in  Oregon,  232,  2.".3  (note), 
238;  his  nieiiKn'able  ride  to  St. 
Louis,  2311. 

Wilkes,  Charles,  explores  north- 
west coast,  240,  241  (noU). 

Willamette  Valley  settled,  240. 

Wisconsin,  lirst  white  man  in,  7.5, 

7'.t  (nnlr). 

Wisconsin  River  found  to  be  a  trib- 
titary  of  the  Mississippi,  78. 

Wyefh,  Nathaniel  J.,  in  Oregon, 
232,  2.3:5  {note). 

Wyoming  Territory.  .324. 

Yellow.stone  Park,  ;524. 

Yellowstone  River,  18.-.,  101  (note). 

Verba  Buena,  282,  284  (note). 

Voung,  lirigham,  2(i5. 

Zuhi  visited  by  Spaniards,  35,  ilO 
(nol> ). 


by    De    Soto 

practised  by 

nil):    African 


it 


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•Ayes. 

"  We  congratulate  the  boys  of  the  land  upon  tlie  appearance  of  this  book.  We  com- 
mend It  to  p.irents  wlio  ate  selecting  litei.iture  for  their  children,  assured,  as  we  are, 
liiat  it  will  rotivince  them  that  books  may  be  found  which  will  engage  the  attention, 
and  slimul.ite  the  imagination,  of  the  youn;^,  without  dissipating  the  mind,  or  blunting 
the  mural  sensibilities."  —  rhiladilphia  Minsciii^cr. 


THE    FIRST    REALLY    PRACTICAL    BOY'S    BOOK. 


THE    AMERICAN    BOY'S    HANDY    BOOK; 

Or,    WHAT    TO    DO    AND    HOW    TO    DO    IT. 


BY   DANIEL  C    BEARD 
With  three  hundred  illustrations  by  the  author.     Cue  votumf,  8vo. 


$2. 00. 


Mr.  Brard' s  Inwk  is  the  first  to  tell  the  active,  inventi-.'e,  nnd  practical  Attiet  i- 
I  an  boy  the  things  lie  reaHy  ivants  to  know,  the  thousand  things  he  wants  to  tio, 
and  tlie  ten  thousand  loays  in  which  he  can  do  them,  with  the  helps  and  ingenious 
tontrir'am  cs  which  every  hoy  can  either  procure  or  make. 

The  author  divides  the  book  among  the  sports  of  the  four  seasons:  and  he  has  maile 
an  almost  exhaustive  collection  of  the  cleverest  iiuHlern  devices,  besides  himself  invent- 
ing an  immense  number  of  capital  and  practical  ideas. 


New  YorKt 


Charles  Scribner't  Sons,  Publishers,  743  and  745  Broadwa;!,  New  York. 


SCRIBNER'S  STANDARD  JUVENILE  BOOKS. 


THE   BOY'S 


Library  of  Legend  and  Chivalry, 

EDITED    BY    SIDNEY    LANIER, 

Ami  richly  illustrated  by  FREDERICKS,  BENSELL,  and  KAPPE-i 


THE   BOY'S   KING  ARTHUR. 

KNIGHTLY  LEGENDS  OF  WALF 

Fottr  volnmts,  cloth,  uni/onn  hi 
Sold  separately.     Price ^ 


THE  BOYS  FROISSART 
THE  BOY'S  PERCY. 

>^^rice  Per  set  $  7.00. 
fuiuiiie  $2. 00. 


"  Amid  .ill  the  slrannc  ami  f.»ni:iful  scenery  of  ihese  >t'>rii"i,  (haractcr  .inc!  the  iilcaU 
of  character  icniaiii  at  the  simplest  and  the  purest.  The  ronuuilic  history  transpires 
in  the  healthy  atnjosphere  of  the  open  air,  on  the  ^rcen  earth  beneath  the  open  sky. 
.  .  .  'I'hc  figures  of  Ki);hl,  Truth,  Justice,  Honor,  I'urity,  Courase,  Reverence  K>r 
Law,  are  always  in  the  background;  and  the  grand  passion  in-.pired  by  the  l>ook  is 
for  strength  to  do  well  and  nobly  in  the  world."  —  The  Independctit. 


THE   BOY'S 


Library  of  Pluck   and   Action. 


A  JOLLY  FELLOWSHIP, 

By  Fkank  R.  Stockton. 

HANS  BmNKER; 
OR,  THE  SILVER  SKATES. 

a  story  of  lifk  in  holland. 
Hy  Mrs.  Maky  Mai-es  Dodge. 


THE  BOY  EMIGRANTS, 

By  Noah  Brooks. 

PHAETON  ROGERS, 

By  RossiTER  Johnson. 


Four  volumes,  lamo,  in  a  box,  illustrated,  $500. 
Sold  separately,  price  per  volume  $  i.so> 

In  the  "  Hoy's  Library  of  Pluck  and  At  ti<in,  "  the  design  was  to  bring  together 
the  representative  and  most  popular  books  of  four  of  the  best  known  writers  for  youiii; 
people.  The  names  of  Mary  Mapes  Dodice,  Krank  R.  Stockton,  Noah  Brooks,  ami 
Kossiter  Johnson  arc  familiar  ones  in  every  household,  and  a  set  of  books,  to  whu  li 
each  has  contributed  one,  forms  a  present  that  will  delight  the  heart  of  every  boy  wlio 
likes  manly,  spirited,  and  ainiisinj^  tales.  The  volumes  are  beautifully  illustrated  and 
uniformly  bound  in  a  most  attractive  form. 


Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  Publishers,  743  and  745  Broadway,  New  York 

a 


}OOKS. 


SCRIBNER'S   STANDARD    JUVENILE   BOOKS. 


FRANK    R.    STOCKTON'S    POPULAR    STORIES. 


Vivalry. 

» 

Vtd  KAPPE's 

FROISSART 
S  PERCY. 

$7.00. 


ctcr  and  the  i^lciU 
history  triin^iiircs 
ath  the  itpc-n  >ky. 
gc,  Reverence  Uir 
cd  by  the  book  U 


THE    STORY    OF    VITEAU. 

With  sixteirn  fiill-p.i^c  illuNtr.itions  by  K.  It.   ISlKCII. 
Oil,-  Ti-liim,-,  /JW(),  extra  cloth.     $1.50. 

In  "  The  Story  of  Vitcau,"  Mr.  Stockton  has  opened  a  new  vein,  and  'nic  that  he 
has  shown  all  his  well-known  skill  and  ability  in  working.  While  describing  the  life 
and  surroundings  of  Raymond,  I.uuis,  and  Agnes  at  Viti-au  at  the  C'.istle  of  I)e  Har- 
ran,  or  in  the  woods  among  the  Cotfrfniix,  he  gives  a  picture  of  France  in  the  age 
of  chivalry,  ami  tells,  at  the  s.inie  time,  a  romantic  and  absorbing  story  of  adventure 
and  knightly  daring.  Mr.  Hirch's  spirited  illustrations  add  much  to  the  attraction  of 
the  book. 

A    JOLLY    FELLOWSHIP. 

Illustrati-il.     Otic  volume,  i2itio,  fxtra  cloth.     $i.io. 

"  '  A  Jolly  Fellowship,'  by  Mr.  Frank  Stockton,  is  a  worthy  successor  to  liis  '  Rud- 
der Grange.'  Although  written  for  lads,  it  is  full  of  dcliciou  <  nonsense  that  will  be 
enjoyed  by  men  and  women.  .  .  .  The  less  serious  parts  are  ilescrilH;d  with  a  iiiotk 
gravity  that  is  the  perfection  of  harmless  burlesque,  while  all  the  nonsense  has  a  vein 
of  good  sense  running  through  it,  so  that  really  useful  information  is  cr>iiveyed  to  the 
young  and  untravelled  reader's  ivind."  —  I'hiladelf>liiii  Eveuiiig  Bullttiii. 


Action. 


IIGRANTS, 

Brooks. 

lOGERS, 

Johnson. 


I  to  bring  together 
1  writers  for  young 
koah  Brooks,  ami 
If  books,  to  whii  h 
[of  every  boy  wlio 
lly  illustrated  and 


^y,  New  York. 


THE     FLOATING     PRINCE,    AND     OTHER 

FAIRY     TALES. 

With  illustrations  by  Benseli.  and  others.     Oue  Z'pIhmii-,  quarto,  hoards.     $1.50. 

"  .Slot  kton  has  the  knaik,  ptcrhaps  cenius  would  be  a  better  word,  of  writing  in  the 
easiest  of  colloqui.il  English,  without  descending  to  the  plane  of  the  vulc.tr  or  ■  oiimion- 
pi. ice.  The  very  j>crfection  of  bis  work  hinders  the  reader  from  ptrrL-iving  at  once 
how  good  of  its  kind  it  is.  .  .  .  With  the  added  ch.irin  of  a  most  delu  .ite  humor,  — 
a  real  humor,  mellow,  tender,  and  informed  by  a  singularly  quaint  and  racy  fancy, 
—  his  stories  become  irresistibly  attractive."  —  Fhiladt-lpnia  rimes. 


NEW    EDITIONS    OF    OLD    FAVORITES. 


ROUNDABOUT    RAMBLES    IN    LANDS    OF 
FACT     AND    FICTION. 

One  voliiniC, quarto,  Ixjards,  with  very  attractive  lithographed  cover,  three  hundred  and 
seventy  pages,  two  hundred  illustrations.  A  new  edition.  I'rice  reduced  from 
1(3.00  to  $1.50. 

TALES    OUT    OF    SCHOOL. 

One  volume,  quarto,  boards,  with  handsome  lithographed  cover,  three  hui:dred  and 
fifty  pages,  nearly  two  hundred  illustrations.  A  new  edition.  Price  reduced  from 
$3.00  to  $1.50. 

Charles  Scribier't  Sons,  Publishers.  743  and  745  Broadway,  New  York 


^scribner;s  standard  juvenile  books. 

WILLIAM    O.  STODDARD'S  CAPITAL   STORIES    FOR    BOYS. 


DAB   KINZER. 

A  STORY   OF   A   GROWING   BOY. 

THE  QUARTET. 

A   SEQUEL  TO   'DAB   KINZER." 

SALTILLO  BOYS. 

AMONG  THE  LAKES. 

WINTER  FUN. 

Each  I  Volume,  i2mo.,  $1.00.     In  gets,  in  uniform  binding,  in  a  box. 
Price  $5.00. 

Mr  SioiUliird's  stories  for  tioys  grow  better  nnd  !)cttcr  ever>'  ye.nr.  Ciood  as  «crc 
"  I  >;tl)  Kinzcr"  and  the  "  (^)ti:irlct,  "  Sai.iii.Lo  1!ii\s  .Mirijasscs  lliciii  in  its  n.iir.itive  nl' 
bright,  manly,  ami  yet  tlioroii^;lily  lifty-like  life  in  an  inland  town,  whose  ai  (nal  nunc 
and  locality  may  lie  shrewdly  i^nessed  liy  tlmse  familiar  with  its  thar.K  tirislii  s.  I  lie 
int  idents  arc  thorounhly  boyish,  and  yet  »|iiile  free  from  frivolity.  'I  he  drift  i<\  lit- 
b<ic>k  is  wliolly  un  the  side  of  frank,  intelli);ent,  and  self-reliant  manliness:  and  it  i% 
im|iossililc  for  any  hoy  to  read  it  withont  absorbing;  a  luvc  fur  nobility  of  cliaraLttr, 
and  formin)^  higher  aspiratiuns. 


TWO  JUVENILES. -BY  EDWARD  EGGLESTON. 


THE  HOOSIER   SCHOOL-BOY. 

One  volume,  i2mo.    With  full-page  illustrations,  $  1.00. 


QUEER  STORIES  FOR  BOYS  AND   GIRLS 

One  volume,  lamo,  $1.00. 

Mr.  Eggleston  is  one  of  the  very  few  American  writers  who  have  succeeded  in  giving 
to  their  work  a  genuine  savor  of  the  soil,  a  distinctively  American  Character.  The 
scene  of  his  stories  is  the  H^csferii  Rcserrr,  and  the  characters  are  types  of  the  early 
part  of  this  century,  in  the  territory  now  comprised  in  Indiana  and  Ohio.  Tlif 
Hoosier  School-Boy  depicts  some  characteristics  of  Ixiy  life,  years  ago,  on  the  Ohio,  — 
characteristics,  however,  that  were  not  peculiar  to  the  section  only.  The  story  presents 
a  vivid  and  interesting  picture  of  the  difficulties  which  in  those  days  beset  the  path  of 
the  youth  aspiring  for  an  education. 


Charles  Scribner't  Sons.  Publishers.  743  and  745  Broadway,  New  York 


ItOOKS. 

FOR    BOYS. 


ng,  in  a  box. 


f  MXitl  hn  were 
its  nairative  ni' 
ise  ;u;tii:«l  n.inic 
I  ttri>iii  s.  I  lie 
I  lie  drift  <if  ilic 
incs.s:  and  it  is 
ly  of  cliar.-tcicr, 


roN. 

r. 

I.OO. 

GIRLS 


ceded  in  Rivins; 
'h.iractcr.  The 
les  of  the  early 
id  Ohio.  /•//<• 
on  the  Ohio, — 
E  story  presents 
set  the  path  uf 


New  York 


I 


